The Group of Seven

27:05Right. It was called the Studio Building in the Rosedale neighborhood of Toronto. And that was a real sort of cohesion, cohesive thing. Cohesion unit? Is that a thing? Yeah. Like a rank leader. Yeah. It was like two units of cohesion when they built that building. For sure. Which is not there anymore, unfortunately. I think they built a high-rise apartment over it. They tore it down first and then built the high-rise apartment. But during the time, I think well into the 50s, this was still a thriving artist studio and it was cheap apartments as well. I saw that Tom Thompson was so broke that he couldn't even afford the subsidized rent for the artist's apartment at the studio.

27:54So, again, he was so likable. James McCallum built him a shed out back and charged him a dollar a month for it. Yeah, but they would, you know, Canadians are known for being nice, but they would bag on them. They'd say, man, you're so broke, you can't pay attention. That's a good one. And then they all started coming up with, you know, you're so broke jokes. How have I made it almost 49 years without having heard that one? Have you not heard that one? No. That's the only broke one I know. But yeah, I introduced Ruby to that whole, you know, those kind of jokes. It burns your mama jokes and stuff that, you know, playground burns.

28:29It's pretty fun. For sure. Your mom was so old, she owes Jesus a nickel. Wow. Did you ever hear that one? No. Wow. I really wasn't paying attention on the playground, apparently. I couldn't make these up, of course. I was just trying to copy the great artists of the playground. For sure. But, I mean, I still haven't heard them, and you say them just beautifully. I appreciate it. I got a lot more. I'll trot them out here and there moving forward. Okay, good. Good. So, we talked about Tom Thompson dying, and this was a really big deal, right? It was. another big deal was World War I. Oh, yeah. That came along and, you know, was a big disruption because a lot of, it certainly delayed the formation, the official formation of the group right there in the late 19-teens.

29:14But they, a lot of them actually served in the war in some capacity. A lot of them worked for the Canadian War Memorials Fund, and they were producing art about the war, some of which was super cool. I don't know if we should talk about it now or later, but the, well, maybe let's hang on to that. Okay. The Dazzle camouflage. Yeah, Arthur Lismar stuff. Yeah, we'll hold on to that. It is cool. So yeah, one of the things that I think also cemented Tom Thompson's reputation as one of Canada's most famous artists is that he died under what some people consider mysterious causes. Like this guy was born in rural Ontario.

29:57He was an avid outdoorsman. He spent so much time up in the Canada, the Canadian forests, I guess, around Algonquin or Algoma, that he would be a fishing guide sometimes. He served as a park ranger. He just he was just there. So he might as well do that extra stuff. And he went out one day in a canoe and his canoe was found overturned later that day or the next day. And he was missing. His body was found, I think, eight days later. And he had like a bump and a bruise on the side of his face. And some people are like, well, yeah, he just stood up in the canoe and like fell out and like hit his head and then drowned.

30:36And other people are like, you didn't know Tom Thompson then because, number one, he would never do something that stupid. And number two, see number one. Yeah. I mean, it's hard to tell how fishy that might have been. It very well could have been an accident, but it's also very easy to say like an experienced outdoorsman like that wouldn't have died that way. But it was officially declared an accidental drowning. Some people theorize that he may have killed himself if he wasn't murdered because he got his girlfriend pregnant. But I couldn't really see a lot of like solid evidence other than just people surmising.

31:13Yeah. There was like one or two people over the years who like wrote a book or something like that and kept the whole thing alive. Yeah. But it was a really big deal to the group of seven. They hadn't even formed yet and they lost one of their members already. And this was the guy who introduced them to the Wild. He was inherently likable guy. They were really bummed out about it. But they still carried on, you know, I think at least in part out of tribute to Tom Thompson, but also because they had really come to appreciate what he introduced them to. Yeah, for sure. That also led to another sort of, if not tragedy, like setback when McDonald was helping to build a memorial cairn at Canoe Lake where he died.

32:02And McDonald collapsed because, you know, as we said, he was a pretty frail guy, may have had a stroke, but recovered within a few months, well enough at least that he was able to go on this painting trip. You mentioned Algoma in Ontario. They went there. Frank Johnston, who was, he would be another one of the OGs as far as the group members go. And Dr. McCollum, who funded that studio, they all went along on this trip. Yeah, so they went on boxcar journeys because Lauren Harris. This sounds so cool. Yeah, Lauren Harris was so rich, he went to one of the railroads and said, hey, give us a boxcar, will you?

32:41And they said, sure, Mr. Harris, whatever you want. So they took a boxcar and outfitted it, refurbished it to basically turn it into a traveling studio and artist quarters. Yeah, it sounds like super cool. I mean, it had a stove, it had furniture, and they could move it around to the different rail sidings and hang out and stay. Then had a little home base there with some warmth to it. Sure. And the Wild River was painted there, which is one of McDonald's biggest, most popular paintings. And that was in 1919. And it is very gorgeous as well. It is. I don't remember that one. I had so many tabs open and looked at so much art that I couldn't remember that.

33:24But I don't think there was many paintings that I was like, that's a real dog. Except for that one painting of the dog, the real one. Right. Yeah. So by this time, 1919 is rolling around. They've been on boxcar journeys. They've lost Tom Thompson. They've gone out in the wild a few times. They've really kind of gotten into this new modernist interpretation of landscapes, specifically Canadian landscapes, to basically create this new art identity of Canada. It's like a nationalistic art movement. And they mounted their first exhibition from at least one or more of those boxcar journeys. And I think there was something like 200 canvases.

34:12And it did not go over all that well, actually. Yeah, I mean, there were some critics who didn't love it. Some people did like it. But that was just a key exhibition because it was their first one as a group. And that was when, and this was in 1919, that's when within the group they were like, you know, we should officially call ourselves a school and form an official, like the Avengers. We need to get together and be an official group because it'll probably just help our reputation, get us a little more press. Yeah. In February or March of 1920, they did so. Jackson was not there. He was on one of his sketching trips at the time, and he came home and said that he learned that it had been formed and that I was a member.

34:56Yeah, we haven't met Jackson yet. This is a different Jackson than the one that went on that first trip with Tom Thompson. This was A. Jackson. Well, we introduced him. Oh, we did? I didn't remember that. Because I almost made the joke that they call him A. Yeah. But I didn't. Like the Fonz. Yeah, A.Y. Jackson, who actually he lived, I think, the longest. Yeah, he lived all the way until 1974. Nice. Ripe old age. He was born in Montreal, had a single mom with six or five other siblings, total six. And as a result, he had to work a lot to support his family. But eventually he found his way to Europe where he was one of the ones, like you said, that studied like formally in Europe, which he did in France before he moved back to Ontario in 1913.

35:43Yeah. And thanks to Dr. James McCollum, he was able to move to Toronto because he was not very well off at the time. And McCollum said, how about this? I will buy all of your paintings that you produce in a year to keep you afloat, essentially. And that gave A.Y. Jackson the ability to come to Toronto, start working. He painted 600 things. Right. And make a name for himself in time to be able to support himself through his art. Yeah, and he had that Montreal connection. So he sort of Montreal artists would he'd make connections with the group of seven. Again, you know, artists knowing each other and sharing ideas and just sensibilities ethos, if you will, is a good thing.

36:23But he was one of the ones that went over with World War One to fight. He was actually wounded there and also painted for Canadian war memorials. Yeah. Another guy who painted for Canadian war memorials that you mentioned earlier was Arthur Lismer. Yeah. He was famous for painting warships that were returning to port that had dazzle camouflage on them, which essentially is like op art painted on warships. Yeah, I had never heard of this before. Had you? No, huh? It's super cool. It's a way for, it's not, you know, camouflage in the way that it's supposed to blend in with the sea around it. In fact, far from it, it doesn't do anything like that.

37:05Right. Like you said, it looks like cool pop art, you know, painted on a warship. It almost looks like some weird art installation and not a real thing that the Navy did. But the intention there, again, is not to, like, conceal it like it's not there, but to confuse and mislead about, like, the course heading or something up like that or, like, how fast they're going or, yeah, like I said, where they're headed. And apparently it worked pretty good. Yeah, they look like disjointed zebra stripes. They're in different chunks that don't line up with one another. Yeah, so that's on the actual ship, and he painted paintings of these ships, and they're really cool looking.

37:43I love it. Yeah. And Arthur Lismer is one of those painters whose style seemingly changed overnight around 1920 and really falls into line with the rest of the groups. It's pretty cool. Yeah, I guess we'll go with the last three here. We have Frederick Varley, who lived till 1969. So I think he was the lived the second longest. He was a schoolmate of Lismar's in England. And I think we didn't mention that they both studied in Antwerp, Belgium. And then he reconnected with Lismar after living in Yorkshire and getting married. And he was like, Lismar's like, come on over to Canada, man. And he did so in 1912, went to work at the Grip, like a lot of them, and also painted for the war memorials.

38:24Yeah, he was actually embedded in Europe with the Canadian military. So a lot of his paintings that he made during the war were like bombed out villages. Yeah. I read that one of his paintings was a shelled cemetery to basically say like even the dead can't escape war. It's some harrowing stuff that he produced for sure. Who else do we have? He was very affected by the war, I should say. Yeah. To answer your question, who else we have is my favorite by far of the group. Frankie? Franklin Carmichael. Yeah. And you were saying you wouldn't hang any of these in your home. I would hang a Carmichael, basically any of them.

39:04Yeah, I agree, actually. And that's some of my favorite stuff, too. And I might hang some of the other stuff. Maybe I was being too harsh. Hang it all. So he had kind of a more decorative sensibility, I saw it described as. He used more colorful, softer colors. Like, just go look up Franklin Carmichael art, and you will just sit there and watch it all day. Yeah, he did more watercolors than the rest of them, but did work in other mediums. And then rounding out, we have Frank Johnston, born in Toronto, so another one of Canadians' sons. And he worked at the Grip as well. And he's, I think, the only one that actually studied in the United States.

39:47He went there for a little while, studied there, did some work there, and then went back to Toronto in 1915. And he was known for his opaque watercolor techniques. So he was kind of, you know, watercolor is quicker, so he was pumping out paintings much quicker than the rest of these guys. Yeah, I saw he contributed 60 of the 200 canvases that were at that first show. That's amazing. He also, this is so artist, he was born Francis Hans Johnston. And later on in life, he compressed that to Franz. Oh, wow. Hans and Franz. Pretty cool. Yeah, exactly. Maybe we should take another break. Yes. And we'll be back with more art.

40:45Hi, I'm Dr. Priyanka Wally. And I'm Hari Kondabolu. It's a new year, and on the podcast Health Stuff, we're resetting the way we talk about our health. Which means being honest about what we know, what we don't know, and how messy it can all be. I like to sleep in late and sleep early. Is there a chronotype for that, or am I just depressed? We talk to experts who share real experiences and insight. You just really need to find where it is that you can have an impact in your own life and just start doing that. We break down the topics you want to know more about. Sleep, stress, mental health, and how the world around us affects our overall health.

41:24We talk about all the ways to keep your body and mind, inside and out, healthy. We human beings, all we want is connection. We just want to connect with each other. Health stuff is about learning, laughing, and feeling a little less alone. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. New year, new goals, and in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt. And I'm Joel. We are from the How to Money podcast, and every week we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen.

42:05Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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43:20All right, so we've talked about 1920 and what happened over and over again. But finally, on May 7th is when the official Unified School opened at the Art Gallery of Toronto with 120 paintings. And this is like definitely when critics kind of, some of them poo-pooed it. One described some of the paintings as looking like the contents of a drunkard's stomach. And I think this was maybe more just because it was a departure from the traditional art. They got popular pretty quickly. I think their second show in May of 21 drew about 2 ,500 people over just three weeks and change. So people got on board pretty quickly.

43:59Yeah, for sure. Again, because in part this is that they were painting Canada's national identity. That's right. One of the other things, I don't know if I've made that point yet. I think a few more times it might get at home. One of the other things that was really big about this show was that the director of the National Gallery of all of Canada bought at least three of their works. His name was Eric Brown. And in addition to basically ensconcing them in Canada's National Gallery, saying, like, these guys are legit, this is the real deal, he put them in other exhibitions that Canada put on around the world.

44:35And he would really play a big role later on during World War I and II, as we'll see. Yeah, and he, you know, he was a patron of the arts. He loved these guys, but he was also criticized at times later by just solely being into these guys. And like, hey, you're not championing the work of women as much as you should or are indigenous artists. So, you know, he was criticized for that. That's all I'll say. For sure. So the group is kind of like rolling by now. They're doing more journeys. They're meeting once in a while to basically set up exhibitions. Franz Johnston leaves, and they're like, well, God, we're the group of seven.

45:19We need to get a seventh. They bring in a guy named A.J. Kassin, who used to be Franklin Carmichael's assistant. They're like, okay, let's just break the trend and bring in an eighth member. So they brought in a guy named Edwin Holgate. He was brought in in 1929. Yeah, he was a portraitist, which was a little different from the rest of them. For sure. He had also formed another group in Montreal called the Beaver Hall Group, which is a pretty good group name. Yeah, great name. And then Lemoyne Fitzgerald, who you could call the Jinx. He was brought on in 1932. The group broke up in 1933. So the Jinx missed their last exhibition in 1931.

45:59And then he was there for their breakup the year after he was brought on board. Yeah, that's too bad for Lemoyne. But he got a brief taste. And then, you know, he lived until 1956, so he was still painting after that. We did mention a woman, Emily Carr, near the beginning as like, you know, this is a boys club. But she was never officially a group of seven because of that. But they did feature her works in some of their shows, one in 1927 in particular. And that's when they, you know, they kind of pulled her aside and they were like, hey, you know, you're really, you're one of us. like it might not be official, but you're definitely one of us.

46:37But don't tell anybody. Yeah, exactly. Don't tell anyone. And she painted a lot of indigenous villages and stuff like that. Yeah. And at one point was doing indigenous art, like hooked rugs and pottery and selling it to tourists. But she like, even way back then was like, wait a minute, maybe I'm appropriating this. They didn't use that word, I'm sure. But she stopped doing it. She was like, this is not a culture I'm a part of. So maybe I shouldn't be doing it and selling it. Yeah, that lady was, Ahead of even NPR. Yeah. Yeah. Or what's Canada's version of NPR? CBC. Oh, right. Of course. So all good things must come to an end.

47:16And one of the things that I think you can give a nod to the group of seven about is they're like, hey, this thing's run its course. Let's just disband. So they actually disbanded. They had a formal disbanding, I think, again in 1933. It was LeMoyne's fault again. But part of it was that McDonald had died in 1932. And again, he was kind of like the guy who was the original, the figurehead, I think. Pop a smirk. Yeah, that was part of it. They thought it had run its course, but they were also now starting to get real pushback. Not just them, but also the National Gallery and Eric Brown saying like, you know, there's other artists in Canada.

48:00Can we kind of include them? There's other parts of Canada besides the northern boreal forest. And because of that, they actually stepped back. They disbanded the group of seven. And then they regrouped and expanded to the Canadian group of painters, which started out with 28 artists and eventually grew to 61 total over the years. And this one included women. Yes. They expanded it greatly at that point. one of the reasons that they're obviously famous because they were Canadian through and through and what they were doing and where they were living and some of them where they were from but they in World War II the Canadian government got involved to do this silkscreen program where they silkscreen prints of this art and they put them up in their buildings and their government buildings and then put them up for sale and Eric Brown was behind that as well and that really just cemented them because all of a sudden people were like buying the stuff and putting it on their own walls as prints.

49:01Yeah, they were in banks. They were in schools. Apparently, Arthur Lismer, one of the original group of seven, was in charge in part of selecting images. So, yeah, the group of seven was disproportionately represented in this. And that is one reason why they are so enmeshed in Canada's artistic psyche. Like this is Canadian art. This is the foundation of it. That's a big part of it. Yeah, because you could get it at the Spencer Gifts all of a sudden. Yes. And you could also make an argument that they were selected for this cheap silkscreen reproduction because the colors, the bold colors, the shapes, the contours of the whole thing, it was ripe for reproduction through screen printing.

49:45Yeah, for sure. It looked good on a screen print. Emily Carr was not chosen. In fact, no women were chosen. and I think no artists that painted the coastlines of Canada were chosen and no work by indigenous artists as well or work that depicted their community. So again, some controversy surrounding that stuff. Obviously, that kind of thing today would be handled a lot differently, but this was, again, back in the mid-1940s when they started the silk screening. Yeah, but it was interesting that they were still criticized for that kind of stuff Even back then, you know, people were aware of it for sure.

50:23Yeah, totally. But yeah, if you want to waste some time, well wasted, I should say, go check out thegroupofseven.ca. And they have bios and like a lot of selected art. Or just look up these artists and type in artist name works and just look at all the amazing stuff that comes up. It's good stuff. I'm glad you found this one or picked it or it was suggested. I'm not sure. I think I had just heard of him, and Olivia helped us out, and I love learning more and more about art here later in life. Me too, Chuck. In my 50s. Well, since Chuck said he's in his 50s, of course that means he's just unlocked listener mail.

51:09Mid-50s. When are you 50? I will be 50 the July after next, and I don't care because 40s suck. Yeah. It's the worst decade so far, at least, but I've heard it just gets better after your 40s, that your life satisfaction dips in the 40s and starts to climb back up and peaks again in your 60s, and that that is comparable to your younger years, the peak of happiness. So we have a lot to look forward to, man. Yeah, just get ready. Yeah, we're going to be podcasting the whole time. That's right. All right, this is a positive correction about fentanyl. By the way, we got some props for just saying fentanyl, not fentanyl.

51:50All right. Josh noted, if you go to prison, you're expected to simply dry out and hopefully recover that way. That is not the case, guys. I teach in a correctional facility in Indiana. I'm happy to report that our prisons give incarcerated individuals, or IIs, the option to take suboxone in a controlled environment. At a certain time each day, the II and the program are sent to our medical department and given suboxone in order to help with their treatment. This has helped those who struggle with addiction, but it's important to note that it can be addictive, leading to potential abuse as well.

52:22Suboxone compared with recovery programs has helped a lot of my students, and I've been very fortunate to see some people turn their lives around through this. And we heard from a couple of other correctional workers from different states that do the same thing, so it sounds like it's sort of the norm. Yeah, that's heartening. Yeah, that's great to hear. Additionally, guys, I appreciate that you cleared up some misconceptions about fentanyl. I can confirm that those ideas still impact law enforcement, as our officers are required to wear gloves during cell searches in order to prevent absorbing fentanyl through the skin.

52:54Thanks for providing years of knowledge in a relaxed and fun manner. Thanks for coming to Indianapolis. I was at the show, and it was great. It was a good show. And that is from Samuel, adult basic education instructor. Thanks, Samuel. You're out there doing God's work. Congratulations to you, and thank you for it. And if you want to be like Samuel and gently correct us, we love that kind of thing. You can send it via email to stuffpodcasts at iheartradio.com. Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

53:37Hi, I'm Dr. Priyanka Wally. And I'm Hari Kondabolu. It's a new year, and on the podcast Health Stuff, we're resetting the way we talk about our health. Which means being honest about what we know, what we don't know, and how messy it can all be. I like to sleep in late and sleep early. Is there a chronotype for that, or am I just depressed? Health Stuff is about learning, laughing, and feeling a little less alone. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Joel. And Matt from HowToMoney. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back.

54:15Prices, they're still high, and the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right. Yeah, each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on, and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom Podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all?

54:49I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the valley of despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to The Mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.