Fauvism, Expressionism & Early Modern Art Movements, Canadian Art
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Overview
A compact edition of an award-winning best-seller -- more affordable than the celebrated original, but otherwise identical.
At a critical time in Canada's history, the Group of Seven revolutionized the country's appreciation of itself by celebrating Canada as a wild and beautiful land. These paintings of the wilderness evoke the same response in viewers today as they did when first exhibited.
The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson includes many never -- before reproduced paintings and presents the most complete and extensive collection of these artists' works ever published. The 400 paintings and drawings reveal the remarkable genius of all 10 painters who at some point were part of the movement. Tom Thomson, who died before the Group was established, was always present in the public mind. Included are works by:
- Frank Carmichael
- Frank Johnston
- A.J. Casson
- Arthur Lismer
- Le Moine FitzGerald
- J.E.H. MacDonald
- Lawren Harris
- Tom Thomson
- Edwin Holgate
- F.H. Varley
- A.Y. Jackson
The artwork is organized by the various regions of Canada, with additional sections on the war years and still-life paintings. Introductory essays provide a context for a greater understanding and appreciation of Canada's most celebrated artists.
Editorials
Book News
Notable for the superb quality and the quantity of its color plates.... Organized thematically, rather than by artist, the volume collects together notable works according to subject, including portraits, WWI, and urban and village scenes, with the majority of the works grouped into the geographic areas that the painters depicted... Each chapter opens with an essay, followed by page upon page of full-page color plates of the intensely colorful works.North Shore News
Recently released in paperback, this fabulous book is a definitive collection of a group of artists who helped establish a national perspective. Their dramatic use of colour and line created a style uniquely Canadian that gave rise to an entire painting tradition. Featuring 400 works, the paintings are divided into a number of different sections that address the regional influences along with the urban and portraiture subjects.Saskatoon Star Phoenix
This is a gorgeous book that deserves a place on any art lover's bookshelf.Waterloo Record
A splendid volume.Library Journal
The late 1920s saw the rise of an all-Canadian view of artistic endeavors, and the Group of Seven (often numbering more)-plus the earlier work of landscape painter Tom Thomson (1877-1917)-embodied this spirit, building upon the existing forms to define the nation and its art. Canadian art historian Silcox looks into the minds and hearts of these men and their total immersion in the physical and spiritual life of their country. Geographically oriented, the book guides readers through small gardens, autumnal forests, arctic wilderness, and illuminating portraits, among other things, and marks the first-time publication of many works (there are 400 total). As a record of a pivotal time in Canadian art, with its definition of national self-image and influence upon all aspects of cultural life, this is an important addition to the literature and an exciting opportunity for readers to discover the artists, indeed, the entire country for themselves. Highly recommended for all art libraries and academic collections. [Also of note is Charles Hill's The Group of Seven: Art for a Nation.-Ed.]-Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.Montreal Gazette
The best introduction to the Group available. With elegant ease, Silcox expertly recounts the Group's travels and artistic concerns, relating them to the times with a refined talent for synthesis. The 369 reproductions look even crisper than those in the original edition.Winnipeg Free Press
Includes many rarely seen paintings as well as the signature paintings that dazzle our imagination. ... The paintings are set on a white matte paper that allows the richness of the color and texture of the brushstroke to come through. ... The historical information is concisely written, offering insight into the men who led the movement of Canadian art into new, daring, interpretive and abstract directions. This beautiful book will be appreciated whenever it is opened. It's a gift, in more ways than can be expressed.Booklist
Silcox [is] a wonderfully lucid stylist... this definitive volume presents 400 supreme color reproductions... covering the entire spectrum of the proficient and prolific group's magnificent output... every painting is vibrantly, radiantly, and gloriously alive: a veritable hymn to life.BookPleasures.com
All of this is evidence that the book can rightfully be described, as the publishers contend, the most comprehensive and extensive collection of the Group's work... The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson exposes the art of these great artists in a new and refreshing way, and will definitely prove of be an invaluable companion for students of art history, as well as art lovers and gallery goers.Bloomsbury Review
David Silcox... and Firefly Books have served enthusiasts of the Seven's movement well.Booklist / RBB
Included in Pictures and Music: A Top 10 List: "the ten most warmly reviewed books about the arts" in 2003.Vancouver Georgia Strait
All in all, the book is a pleasure to look at and a useful addition to the literature on a vital period in the development of Canadian culture.Books in Canada
The abundance of images, lovingly reproduced, is this book's great strength. Produced entirely in Canada, using a distinctively Canadian typeface and printed on 100-lb archival paper, the book's many images are so marvelously presented that it is possible to see on the wooden panels and canvases the Group's spontaneous talent at work and to trace their fluid brushwork and painterly gestures.Globe and Mail
A Globe 100 Book 2003: Carefully researched... a crucial part of our visual heritage.Halifax Chronicle-Herald
A visual feast... the paint quality leaps off the page.Calgary Herald
This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in Canadian culture and history.Kitchener Waterloo Record
These pictures are meant to be studied and analyzed, closely, carefully and attentively. They are meant to be reflected upon, even meditated upon... It's a visual narrative of the history and development of an extraordinary group of painters whose works have become national icons.Toronto Star
A hefty, 448-page blockbuster of pure Canadiana.Vancouver Sun
[Silcox's] substantial and opulent new study clocks in at 448 pages, with 369 full color reproductions... he is also a tough-minded revisionist prepared to ask hard questions.Victoria Times-Colonist
I commend Silcox for his discriminating taste. This is a volume of gorgeous paintings.National Post
Good and compelling... beautiful and masterful... quality of reproductions is excellent and there are dozens of paintings shown here that have never been seen before by the reading public... this mighty tome, which has the best and most numerous reproductions of Thomson and Group paintings yet published,... has reminded us that these artists created unique, vibrant talismans to our good fortune at being able to spin out our lives in this extraordinary land.Globe and Mail
Good looking book... a carefully researched history... some of these paintings can knock you out with their sheer beauty and power... the works collected in this well-produced book, with their beauty and variety and stubborn flaws, are a crucial part of our visual heritage.Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal
This is a remarkable book -- not just for its scholarship, which is of high quality, but for the sheer expanse of it all... an overview unique in this subject area.Vie des arts
Silcox is one of the few Canadian art specialists to achieve that balance between visual description and real in depth understanding of the history he is addressing.Choice
Timely and beautiful... a thorough retrospective and comprehensive bibliography... Summing Up: Highly recommended.Halifax Daily News
350 color plates... one third... you've never seen before: portraits, domestic scenes, garden scenes, and the prerequisite wilderness scenes, except with people in them.The Coast
This really big book is a pleasure of paint, brilliance and new work... exhaustive. Beautiful.Canadian Literature
The quality of the color plates and of all other aspects of production is excellent... a valuable addition to any art lover's library.Resource Links
A great introduction to the Group of Seven for the general public as the text is not overwhelming and so many of the artists' works are included.Artsforum
A must for serious students of art and generalists alike.Antique and Collectibles Showcase
More than 400 stunning colour photographs make this as breathtaking as it is informative. By far the most complete and extensive collection of these artists' work ever published.Artsforum
A must for serious students of art and generalists alike.— John Arkelian
Antique and Collectibles Showcase
As breathtaking as it is informative. By far the most complete and extensive collection of these artists' work ever published.— Judy Penz Sheluk
Resource Links
A great introduction... the text is not overwhelming and so many of the artists' works are included.— Victorial Pennell
Montreal Gazette
The best introduction to the Group available.— Victor Swoboda
Winnipeg Free Press
This beautiful book will be appreciated whenever it is opened. It's a gift, in more ways than can be expressed.— Harriet Zaidman
Kitchener Waterloo Record
A visual narrative of the history and development of an extraordinary group of painters whose works have become national icons.— Robert Reid
Globe and Mail
A Globe 100 Book 2003: Carefully researched... a crucial part of our visual heritage.— Alison Gilmor
Ottawa Citizen
Already on bestseller lists, includes many works from private collections that have never before been reproduced.Canadian Art
A beautiful informative book... This one is a keeper and it deserves pride of place on the reference shelf.Art Times
Handsomely produced, the book's large format and excellent reproductions do justice to this most creatively innovative group of artists. A great addition to anyone's library.Vancouver Georgia Strait
All in all, the book is a pleasure to look at and a useful addition to the literature.— Ian Thom
Choice
Timely and beautiful... a thorough retrospective and comprehensive bibliography... Summing Up: Highly recommended.— N.M. Lambert
The Coast
This really big book is a pleasure of paint, brilliance and new work... exhaustive. Beautiful.— Jane Kansas
Booklist
[Covers] the entire spectrum of the proficient and prolific group's magnificent output... every painting is vibrantly, radiantly, and gloriously alive.— Donna Seaman
Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal
This is a remarkable book... an overview unique in this subject area.— Linda Turk
Victoria Times-Colonist
I commend Silcox for his discriminating taste. This is a volume of gorgeous paintings.— Robert Amos
Toronto Star
A hefty, 448-page blockbuster of pure Canadiana.— Peter Goddard
BookPleasures.com
The book can rightfully be described, as the publishers contend, the most comprehensive and extensive collection of the Group's work.— Norm Goldman
Vie des arts
Silcox... achieve[s] that balance between visual description and real in depth understanding of the history he is addressing.— John K. Grande
Calgary Herald
This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in Canadian culture and history.— Shelley Boettcher
Halifax Chronicle-Herald
A visual feast... the paint quality leaps off the page.— Elissa Barnard
Macleans
[Silcox's] aim -- fully achieved -- is to cultivate "an appreciation of the role artists have in creating our identity."The Beaver
The quality of the reproductions is superb... Could there be a more beautiful collection of Group of Seven works around currently? Not likely.Bloomsbury Review
David Silcox... and Firefly Books have served enthusiasts of the Seven's movement well.— Gary Michael
Books in Canada
The abundance of images, lovingly reproduced, is this book's great strength.— Peter O'Brien
National Post
Good and compelling... beautiful and masterful... quality of reproductions is excellent... [a] mighty tome.— John Fraser
Vancouver Sun
Substantial and opulent new study... [Silcox] is also a tough-minded revisionist prepared to ask hard questions.— David Gordon Duke
Halifax Daily News
350 color plates... one third... you've never seen before: portraits, domestic scenes, garden scenes.— Marilyn Smulders
Canadian Literature
The quality of the color plates and... production is excellent... a valuable addition to any art lover's library.— Sherrill Grace
Booklist / RBB
Included in Pictures and Music: A Top 10 List: 'the ten most warmly reviewed books about the arts' in 2003.— Ray Olson
Book Details
Published
November 8, 2011
Publisher
Firefly Books, Limited
Pages
444
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781554078851