Google celebrates historic Group of Seven milestone with virtual tour

Group of Seven staged its first formal exhibition at the Art Gallery of Toronto 100 years ago

20160531 Algoma Sketch 48 Lawren Harris SUBMITTED 02

Algoma Sketch 48 by Lawren Harris, who is featured on Google Canada's virtual tour of the places that inspired the works of the Group Seven. Photo courtesy Consignor Canadian Fine Art.

Google Canada wants to take Canadians on a virtual tour of some of the landscapes that inspired the work of the Group of Seven in honour of an important marker for one of Canada's most recognized art collectives.

On May 7, 1920, the Group of Seven staged its first-ever formal art exhibition at the Art Gallery of Toronto, now known as the Art Gallery of Ontario.

“We’re very excited and very humbled to be able to celebrate the 100th anniversary of one of Canada’s most famous collection of artists - if not the most famous collection of artists - the Group of Seven,” said Alexandra Klein, communications and public affairs for Google Canada. “What we’ve done is we’ve put it out on street view where people in Canada, they can go to the actual locations of where the Group of Seven found their inspiration.”

Here are some select works of the Group of Seven courtesy of the Art Gallery of Ontario, along with their respective locations via Google Street View - with one entry from the Algoma District, Chippewa Falls:

The Painting	The Real-Life Location that Inspired the Painting
Lake Oesa	Lake Oesa, British Columbia, on Google Street View
Mountains, East of Maligne Lake	Maligne Lake, Alberta, on Google Street View
North Shore, Lake Superior	Neys Provincial Park, Lake Superior North Shore, Ontario, on Google Street View
Waterfall, Algoma Canyon, Algoma	Chippewa Falls, Algoma, Ontario, on Google Street View
Cameron Lake	Cameron Lake, Ontario, on Google Street View
Logging, Nova Scotia, Near Bedford	Bedford, Nova Scotia, on Google Street View

Google Canada has formed a partnership with McMichael Canadian Art Collection, a gallery in Kleinburg, Ont., in order to digitize 150-200 works from the Group of Seven as part of the work that's being done for the forthcoming Google Arts and Culture app.

“The McMichael Gallery will be announcing that they are partnering with the Google Arts and Culture app, and they have already actually begun the process of digitizing the Group of Seven collection, which is really exciting - and a great tribute to Canada’s famous artists,” Klein told SooToday.

With Canadians being encouraged to stay inside during the COVID-19 pandemic, Klein says, celebrating the Group of Seven by way of virtual tour can be a powerful tool.

“This is a way for folks to virtually learn about these locations and potentially, once travel re-opens, to go and actually see these places. Street view is an amazing virtual tool to do that, and to plan.”

“Whether it’s just getting a sense of the place, it’s still a very powerful way to connect when there’s very little ways to connect with nature right now.”

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