Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven
Ross King
Beginning in 1912, Defiant Spirits traces the artistic development of Tom Thomson and the future members of the Group of Seven—Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Franz Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley—over a dozen years in Canadian history. Working in an eclectic and sometimes controversial blend of modernist styles, they produced what an English critic celebrated in the 1920s as the ‘most vital group of paintings’ of the 20th century. Inspired by Cézanne, Van Gogh and other modernist artists, they tried to interpret the Ontario landscape in light of the strategies of the international avant-garde. Based after 1914 in the purpose-built Studio Building for Canadian Art, the young artists embarked on what Lawren Harris called ‘an all-engrossing adventure’: travelling north into the Canadian Shield and forging a style of painting appropriate to what they regarded as the unique features of Canada’s northern landscape.
Sumptuously illustrated, rigorously researched and drawn from archival documents and letters, Defiant Spirits constitutes a ‘group biography’, reconstructing the men’s aspirations, frustrations and achievements. It details not only the lives of Tom Thomson and the members of the Group of Seven but also the political and social history of Canada during a time when art exhibitions were venues for debates about Canadian national identity and cultural worth.
Book Details:
- Author: Ross King
- Published Year: 2011
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Rights Sold
- US & Canada: Douglas & McIntyre
Ross King
Ross King is the bestselling author of books on Italian, French and Canadian art and history. Among his books are Brunelleschi’s Dome (2000), Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling (2002), The Judgment of Paris (Governor General’s Award, 2006), Leonardo and The Last Supper (Governor General’s Award, 2012), and Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies (Charles Taylor Prize, 2017). He has also published two novels (Domino and Ex-Libris), a biography of Niccolò Machiavelli, an...
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Book Reviews
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"King's book does an excellent job of exploring the roles of these visionary individuals in the shaping of an artistic cultural identity."
Publishers Weekly -
"King’s writing is characterized by clarity, compassion, and humanist intelligence. Â…we feel we’ve actually met these individuals—the goal of any good biography."
Library Journal -
"[Defiant Spirits] is a paradigm shift. With his usual spirited prose and faultless research, King makes internationalists out of the Group of Seven."
Canadian Art -
"King, an admirably industrious researcher and deft writer, splendidly braids together the lives of eight painters, the seven members of the Group and Tom Thomson. His skill and intelligence make Defiant Spirits an essential addition to any library of Canadian art history."
National Post -
"In Defiant Spirits, Ross King tells the story of the Group of Seven as it has never been told before. He does for the Group what in his much-acclaimed books he does for Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, and Meissonier: sets out an articulate context, digs out a ton of new information, packs in lots of juicy details and tells a story elegantly and compellingly, as if it were a mystery novel. Without a doubt, a definitive, major, thorough, mesmerizing and thrilling addition to Canadian art history."
David Silcox, author of The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson -
"‘With remarkable speed and enthusiasm Ross King weaves anecdote, biography, social history, sound research and perceptive analysis in a fluid narrative that pulls the reader along. Situating the ideals and practices of the Group members within the national and international contexts of their own individual histories, he shines new light on and raises new questions about this much debated and popular movement."
Charles C. Hill, Curator of Canadian Art, National Gallery of Canada