Customer Reviews

The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson

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If you are looking for a different perspective on the art of landscape this is the perfect book. The painters in the Group of Seven are all individuals but have a similar feeling for design and grand compositions. This book has beautiful, large reproductions and it lets the paintings do the talking with over 400 finely reproduced color images. A little expensive but if you love powerfully composed, colorful landscapes, this book is for you.

With about fifty pages of well written and informative introduction about the group and their painting, this is essentially a catalogue of the artists' work. It concludes with a chronology and a general and artist specific bibliography, and a detailed list of the works included.

The paintings are reproduced sometimes two to a page and frequently one to a page and total nearly three hundred and seventy in full colour. The standard of reproduction is good and the colours rich and strong, often the quality of the brush work and texture of the paint is apparent. As a result we can truly appreciate the stunning beauty of the work and the rich variety to be found in the artists' painting.

This is a most enlightening book brimful of gorgeous paintings, if you are not familiar with this group's work, as I was not until I acquired this volume, it is bound to win you over.

David Silcox's beautiful blending of Canada's best-loved artists captures the magnificent richness of the northern landscape. I particularly like the way the paintings have been grouped thematically into portraits: wilderness, rural life, and the Canadian Arctic to name a few. The author's written commentary is clear and concise about what the Group of Artists was trying to accomplish without overpowering the visual impact of the work. It is a book that is incredibly satisfying to the eye. One you'll not set aside easily.

Even those very familiar with the work of Tom Thomson and The Group of Seven will experience the thrill of rediscovering their work anew as they turn the pages of this magnificent book. The paintings come gloriously alive and are juxtapositioned to complement one another with superb care and sensitivity. This book is a true feast for the senses.

The Group of Seven (and then some) set about creating an art form that was uniquely Canadian. There is no arguing that they succeeded beyond anyone's wildest imagination.

Fred Jacob, writing in the Toronto Mail & Empire of 1919, summed it up very well:

"In their work the spirit of young Canada has found itself...It is not commercial and it is purposed for pure love. It is not ostentatious. It is highly
intellectual and poetic and without any debasing appeal to the senses. It is neither gross nor vulgar. It possesses the charm of out-of-doors and the grandeur
and dignity of nature remote and supreme."

The book itself is just physically beautiful (and heavy). Many, many of these paintings I had never seen before. The colors, the lighting, the brush strokes are awe inspiring.

Although there are pages of information scattered throughout, this is predominantly a picture book. It begins with the author introducing us to the artists. Following that are pages and pages of incredible artwork, neatly arranged by subject matter. At the end of the book, there is the Chronology, the Bibliography and indexes. Highly recommended!

I can't really add anything substantive to what the other reviewers have said but wanted to add my five star review - this is just a beautiful book that any artist or any person interested in painting would love to have.

Even those very familiar with the work of Tom Thomson and The Group of Seven will experience the thrill of rediscovering their work anew as they turn the pages of this magnificent book. The paintings come gloriously alive and are juxapositioned to complement one another with care and sensitivity. It is a true feast for the senses.

Lots and lots of gorgeous pictures. A great introduction to the "group of seven" with some very interesting back story before each chapter. This is a very big and nicely printed book, well worth the money.

First, a brief lesson for the uninitiated: The Group of Seven, along with fellow painter and inspirational leader Tom Thomson, were a group of Canadian painters active from around 1910 to the mid-1930s. Known predominantly for their landscapes, these eleven artists (yes, eleven; not seven; it's a long story) revolutionized the art of their nation by rejecting the traditions of European painting in favor of Canadian subject matter and a uniquely Canadian aesthetic. By combining elements of impressionism, fauvism, and art nouveau they created their own style of painting which has had an unparalleled influence on the history of Canadian art.

David Silcox has put together the ultimate tribute to these amazing artists. The 70-odd pages of text in this book are very well-written, covering the formation of the group, their travels across Canada, and the cultural ramifications of their work. Though the essays offer enlightening reading, the main attraction here is the collection of 400 images. This is one coffee-table book that truly needs a coffee table. The mammoth size of this tome is a challenge to its own binding. It proves, however, that as far as content is concerned, size truly does matter. If you were going to put together a book on the Group of Seven, how would you do it? Would you show the most famous and memorable images, or search for hidden, unpublished gems? In a book this size you can do both! And Silcox does. Would you organize the images by artist, by subject matter (still lifes, portraits, World War I, etc.), or by geographic location (Algonquin Park, Rocky Mountains, the Arctic, etc.)? With a book this big, why choose? Do all three! Different portions of the book are arranged accordingly. Most books on the Group of Seven make the mistake of devoting too much space to the "big five": Thomson, Harris, MacDonald, Jackson, and Lismer. Silcox finally gives the "minor" members their due respect. Carmichael, Varley, Johnston, Holgate, Casson, and FitzGerald are all well-represented, and they hold their own against the big guns of the Group. About two dozen black and white drawings are included; the rest of the works are all paintings. The book doesn't include any printmaking, which is unfortunate, since a few of the members--notably Carmichael, Casson, and Holgate--really excelled in that medium.

Browsing through these pages is the next best thing to strolling the hallowed halls of the McMichael Collection or the Art Gallery of Ontario. The Group of Seven have never looked so good in book form. This volume is elegantly designed, and the paintings are beautifully reproduced. Here and there one could quibble over the selection of images, but overall it's hard to imagine another book improving upon this one. After setting the bar this high, perhaps the next step will be a digital catalog raisonné on DVD. Until that day comes, Silcox's compendium will remain the ultimate visual reference on these artists.

I received this book as a Christmas gift. Before I unwrapped it, I was surprised that it was so heavy! And it was a pleasant surprise to find out the reason it was so heavy is that it is printed on high quality 100 lb. paper which feels smooth and substantial. The color is also fine quality, totally unlike how faded the Sample pages are when you click on "look inside" on the Amazon website. The actual book pages are so much more vibrant than the sample. Also a bit misleading, the Sample shows many pages of text compared to pages of paintings when, in actuality, there are mostly reproductions of paintings in the book. This is a wonderful book which shows the life in landscape paintings of a group of extremely talented artists. They excelled in creating mood and their paintings have a spirit which is communicated to anyone who loves the land.