| A.Y.
Jackson is the man often regarded as the leading
advocate for the Group.
Born
in Montreal, Jackson was forced to earn a living at an
early age when his father abandoned the family of six
children. A.Y. went to work as an office boy for a
lithograph company, where he received his earliest
training.
In
1905, at the age of 23, he worked his way to Europe on a
cattle boat, and then back to Chicago where he worked in
a commercial art firm. By 1907, he had saved enough
money to return to France to study Impressionism. There,
Jackson decided to become a professional painter.
When
Jackson returned to Canada he settled in Sweetsburg,
Quebec and began producing works such as The Edge of
Maple Wood. He struggled in Quebec for several years,
and considered a move to the United States, as he was
becoming more and more discouraged by the art situation
in Canada. Before Jackson was able to move, he received
a letter that was to change the course of Canadian art.
A
Toronto based artist by the name of J.E.H. MacDonald
wrote to Jackson inquiring about a painting he had seen
at a Toronto showing several years earlier. It was
Jackson's The Edge of Maple Wood. In his letter,
MacDonald said that if Jackson still owned the painting,
another Toronto artist by the name of Lawren Harris
wished to purchase it. This letter and purchase provided
the link between Jackson and the Toronto based artists.
They continued correspondence and debate over the
Canadian art situation, and soon Jackson began spending
extended periods of time in Toronto.
A.Y.
Jackson was involved in all the major Group trips to
Algonquin Park, Georgian Bay, Algoma and the North
Shore. He was a rugged individual and some felt that
Jackson had a romantic need to prove himself by
undergoing great hardships. He became great friends with
Tom Thomson, and they spent much time outdoors fishing
and sketching.
In
1913, Harris talked Jackson into spending the entire
summer painting around Georgian Bay. Dr. McCallum then
offered use of his cottage and one year free expenses as
well as use of a room in the Studio Building. When war
came, Jackson was the only member to see action and was
wounded soon after he reached the front. Later, he
worked for the Canadian War Memorials. In 1925, he
taught at the Ontario College of Art (OCA), in Toronto,
the only time in 30 years that he missed travelling home
to Quebec for Spring. This is really where his heart and
best paintings were based.
A.Y. Jackson's works and
personality were immensely popular. He was direct and
easy to understand, both in his painting and as a
person. He was an outward looking artist, whose main
concern was to record the landscape before him and
reveal Canada to Canadians. |
