The Group of Seven and a Mysterious Death (6 photos)

It will be a homecoming of sorts for dozens of paintings by a group of painters who are synonymous with art in Canada.

The “Group of Seven in Algoma and a Mysterious Death” exhibit features 38 pieces by the group and opens Thursday night at the Art Gallery of Algoma as a part of the Algoma Fall Festival.

The group painted iconic scenes in Canada and around the world, but many members had a particular interest in the Algoma District and in and around Wawa and Killarney.

Guest curator Tom Smart said he wanted to highlight the contribution the group had on the region and the inspiration they drew from it.

“They tell us something about their own experience, but their experience is meaningful for us. We can relate to them,” he said.

Smart is currently the deputy director and curator of the Art Gallery of Sudbury and has been working with with Group of Seven works in one way or another throughout his entire career.

“I wanted to know more about these artists and over the years got to know them deeper and the depth of their styles,” he said.

Although the Art Gallery of Algoma owns some of the pieces as part of their permanant collection, many others on display are on loan from other collections, both public and private.

“I’m not aware of any other exhibition of this number of (Group of Seven) pieces that has been exhibited outside of a major city,” said Donna Hilsinger, president of the Algoma Fall Festival.

This year the festival adds more of a focus on visual arts with the addition of the exhibit and the new Nuit Blanche event, along with the performances and music that it has become known for.

“We are always looking at opportunities to do new things and expand. To grow the festival,” she said.

As for the exhibit, Smart said one piece stands out in the show. A painting of Pic Island by AY Jackson.

“It’s a masterpiece. I’ve not seen anything like it,” he said of the piece, which was painted in the 1920’s.

A panel discuss will follow on October 18 at Algoma’s Water Tower Inn and Suites and will feature Smart speaking, along with Ross King, Nancy Lang and Anna Marie Tremonti, about the group’s continued contribution to art in Canada.

“They did this for us. They went out and had those experiences and found those places, They created these stories and this is a huge legacy for this country and they are known around the world,” said Hilsinger.

The exhibit also features engravings by George Walker, an artist who was directly inspired by the Group of Seven.

The engravings were collected in a wordless book titles “The Mysterious Death of Tom Thompson” and some of Walker’s original tools and plates are also on display, as well as a recreation of the skull of Thompson.

Walker created a similar wordless narrative about singer Leonard Cohen.

“He looks for those iconic Canadian artists and moments and interprets them in a new way,” said Smart.

Many of the Group of Seven pieces featured in the exhibit were painted with an autumn palette, which is reflected by the current state of the fall colours in the region.

“It’s not just a painting on the wall anymore. It’s a whole experience. People can come here, they can go to the festival, they can take part in the various programs and, if the weather is nice, they can take a drive and see the colours,” said Smart.

Many of the locations the group painted in the Algoma region were remote, but Smart said in some cases they were actually easier to get to 100 years ago than they are now.

“The railroad was much more active and you could get to a lot of their locations in the Algoma region by rail,” he said.

The exhibit runs for the duration of the festival and closes October 26.

(PHOTO: Donna Hilsinger and Tom Smart seen examining a Group of Seven painting on October 1, 2014 during a media preview of the Art Gallery of Algoma's upcoming exhibit. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)