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Picture
Painting the Canadian Landscape: ALGONQUIN
Saskatoon artists celebrate Tom Thomson by painting in Algonquin Park 100 years after his death.
Works by MEN WHO PAINT 
April 7 & 8th (Saturday 6 - 10pm / Sunday 10 - 4pm)
Wascana Country Club
6500 Wascana Parkway
Regina, SK
Artist Reception Saturday 6-10 pm
Tom Thomson is a name familiar to even the youngest Canadians. His works from Ontario’s Algonquin Park are part of Canada’s artistic heritage and are studied in our public school curriculum. Saskatchewan painters, Cam Forrester, Greg Hargarten, Paul Trottier, Roger Trottier, and Ken Van Rees count Thomson as a chief inspiration in their respective works. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Thomson’s death, the artists, know collectively as Men Who Paint, traveled to Algonquin to paint in this significant location. Works from their visit will be featured in an exhibition entitled, Painting the Canadian Landscape: ALGONQUIN at the Wascana Golf and Country Club, April 7-8th.
Although he painted for only a few years until his mysterious and untimely death in 1917, Thomson’s influence on the Canadian art world has endured, inspiring the birth of the famous Group of Seven painters, and generations of landscape artists who followed.
Among those latter day followers, the Men Who Paint have spent the past ten years traveling the country and painting the Canadian landscape. They decided to follow in Thomson’s footsteps and paint the historic park 100 years after his death. The group been enormously influenced by the work of Thomson as well as the Group of Seven.
“Tom Thomson is the reason I started landscape painting.” says Hargarten, “His use of colour was fearless.”
The Saskatchewan artists’ journey to Algonquin Park was considerably different than Thompson’s original trek into the park; for one thing, there weren’t bus loads of international tourists in Thomson’s day, yet the five prairie painters were still overwhelmed by Algonquin.
“I thought I was prepared because I’d seen those fall colors in photographs, but they are really quite unbelievable in real life. Hopefully we’ve captured that in the work,” says Hargarten.
The influence of Thomson and the Group of Seven on the Men Who Paint has not only been stylistic. The group are inspired by the work of the early Canadian painters, as well as their adventurous spirit. Their travels have taken them painting to such Canadian locations as Banff and Jasper National Parks, Elsmere Island, The Sunshine Coast, and Yukon’s Ivvavik National Park, as well as Saskatchewan locations like Prince Albert National Park, Emma Lake, La Ronge, and Cypress Hills.
Despite the fact that they have seen and painted at many locales, Algonquin Park holds special meaning for the artists. “Algonquin Park and Thomson’s visits there are really the beginning of a new era in Canadian painting,” explains Hargarten. “He was so taken by the area, he began painting daily sketches of the natural beauty and ruggedness of the landscape. Although he was unaware of it at the time, those sketches of the park would be the spark that ignited a new art movement in Canada that is still being celebrated today.”
The exhibition, Painting the Canadian Landscape: ALGONQUIN features paintings completed on site in Ontario as well as larger studio works, and runs from April 7 - 8th. The artists’ reception takes place on Saturday, April 7th from 7–9 pm, and is open to the public.
The Men Who Paint members all currently live in Saskatoon. Their work is held in private, corporate and museum collections including The Mann Gallery in Prince Albert and the Parks Canada Permanent Collections.
Copyright © Men Who Paint 2020       Cam Forrester     Greg Hargarten     Paul Trottier     Roger Trottier     Ken Van Rees