(Note : Back Roads Bill Steer was recently in Red Lake; see his five posts including the uncovering of other A.Y. Jackson paintings during the artist’s visit in 1953.)
The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew are detectives. They are sleuths, motivated to solve crimes.
We appreciate Sherlock Holmes, the fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for his astute logical reasoning used to unravel difficult cases.
‘Following in the Footsteps of the Group of Seven’ is not fiction - it celebrates the inspiration of others and why we have favourite panoramic views. This coffee table book traces the work of Jim and Sue Waddington, who have a passion for locating the actual sketching sites for artworks by members of the Group of Seven, the renowned group of landscape painters.
Nearly a century ago, the group of artists travelled into northern Ontario and farther afield to capture the beauty that lay just beyond the outskirts of Canada’s urban areas. Armed with sketchbooks, brushes, and paint boxes, they set off into the heart of the wilderness with the singular purpose of interpreting the landscape in a modern mode of artistic expression.
Juxtaposing the original artworks with photographs taken by the Waddington’s where these Group members camped, canoed, portaged and sketched, the book reveals iconic images of the northern Ontario landscape and the real inspiration behind them. It provides insight into the working methods and distinct personalities of the artists through the circumstances surrounding their trips—climate conditions, the physical challenges faced, methods of travelling, and choice of location.
You have the opportunity to observe how the Canadian landscape has changed in the past century by comparing the artistic interpretations by the Group in the early to mid-twentieth century with photographs from the Waddington’s “labour of love.”
AY Jackson sketching