Canadian Identity:Visuals Part II

Canadian Identity:Visuals Part II

New FranceArtists Reflect Canadian Identity

Many of the earliest works of art in New France in the 1500's and 1600's were religious works, painted by priests who went out to the colony specifically to paint. The paintings were used to beautify churches and to convey information about Christianity. These priests usually did not remain in New France very long. They returned to France once their paintings were completed. The priests were professional painters, but there were also many self-taught painters who created "folk art" depicting everyday life as well as religious themes. Young wood carvers were taught to create sculptures for churches, beginning a tradition of sculpting in Quebec.

British North America

In British North America, wealthy citizens often paid artists to paint portraits of their families or themselves.

Some military officers who came to British North America in the 1700's had been trained to do topographic drawings. These were drawings that showed landscape features such as hills or lakes. The army wanted to know the geographic details of the land to help it make military plans. The topographers also drew the things they saw in their everyday life. This kind of painting is often called documentary painting because it provides a record of the times. Many scenes and events in the Atlantic provinces were painted this way.

Canada's Natural Beauty

Canada's natural beauty has always been a subject for artists. Many paintings include images of the rivers, lakes, and oceans as well as the people who used them for work and play.

New People, New Paintings

As more and more immigrants arrived in the 1800's new artists appeared, adding to the diversity in Canadian art. One example is Cornelius Krieghoff. He painted both landscapes and people in the European style, which told a story throuogh painting. His painted stories provide a great deal of information about the way of life in Canada during the mid-1800's.

Photography improved after 1850, providing many more images of life at this time. Many photographs show Canadian landscape.

The arts have flourished in Canada since the 1900s, and especially since the end of World War II in 1945. Government support has played a vital role in their development, as has the establishment of numerous art schools and colleges across the country.

The works of most early Canadian painters followed European trends. During the mid 1800s, Cornelius Krieghoff, a Dutch born artist in Quebec, painted scenes of the life of the habitants (French-Canadian farmers). At about the same time, the Canadian artist Paul Kane painted pictures of Indian life in western Canada.

A group of landscape painters called the Group of Seven developed the first distinctly Canadian style of painting. All these artists painted large, brilliantly, coloured scenes of the Canadian wilderness.

Since the 1930s, Canadian painters have developed a wide range of highly individual styles. Emily Carr became famous for her paintings of totem poles of British Columbia. Other noted painters have included the landscape artist David Milne, the abstract painters Jean-Paul Riopelle and Harold Town and multi-media artist Michael Snow . The abstract art group Painters Eleven, particularly the artists William Ronald and Jack Bush, also had an important impact on modern art in Canada.

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Please complete questions:

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Page 8Review and Reflect:

Please complete questions:

#1, 2, 3 and 4