Studio building toronto

The home and working place for several members of the Group of Seven (see Glossary) painters, it is located at 25 Severn Street and is "of enormous significance in the history of Canadian art." Today the building has National Historic Site status, which protects the exterior but not the interior from alteration. The structure was completed in 1914 and has northern exposure conducive to studio painting. It was financed by Lawren Harris, who had family fortune from Massey-Harris farm machinery company, and Dr. James MacCallum. Among the original occupants in addition to Harris were Alexander Young (A.Y.) Jackson, Arthur Heming, and Tom Thomson. Frederick Varley and Tom Thomson occupied a shack at the rear of the building, and in 1962, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection moved the shack to its facility in Kleinburg. By 1946, the heyday of the building had passed; Lawren Harris moved to New Hampshire, and sold the building to Gordon MacNamara, an attorney and watercolor painter. A.Y. Jackson was the only original tenant who stayed on, and he left in 1955. In a letter to him, Lawren Harris wrote: "Your moving from the Studio Building marks the end of an era, . . ." Source: Wikipedia: Studio Building