Canadian group of painters

Formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1933 as the successor to the Group of Seven (see AskART Glossary), its primary purposes were to exhibit work by its members, to encourage ???more modern ideas of technique and subject&#39; and, like the G7, make themselves "felt as a countrywide influence in terms of the creative spirit."* Whereas, the Group of Seven was primarily composed of male English speaking landscape painters from Toronto, the scope of the CGP was intended to be more diverse and progressive. Thus, its membership was modernist artists from many different regions of Canada; its accepted subject matter included figurative, portrait and abstract works in addition to landscapes; and of the 28 original members 9 were women. Oddly, its first exhibition, in the summer of 1933, was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey and was sponsored by the H.J. Heinz Company (its second show was in November of that year at the Art Gallery of Toronto). Thereafter, they had annual November exhibitions at various venues across Canada. The Group expanded over the years, and many of the best-known Canadian artists exhibited with it up to the time it disbanded in 1969. Sources: "Four Decades - The Canadian Group of Painters and their contemporaries - 1930 - 1970" (1972), by Paul Duval and "The Group of Seven - Art for a Nation"(1995), by Charles C. Hill. * Lawren Harris to L.L.Fitzgerald (1933). Written and submitted by M.D. Silverbrooke, Art Historian and Collector, West Vancouver, British Columbia. <br><br>See Group of Seven.