Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven 19 October 2011 – 8 January 2012
Exhibition report Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven
In the early twentieth century in Toronto, Canada, the first stirrings of a new movement of painting were being felt. A group of artists started to engage with the awesome Canadian wilderness, a landscape previously considered too wild and untamed to inspire ‘true’ art. Tom Thomson paved the way for this artistic collective, the Group of Seven, and their works have become revered in Canada. This exhibition reintroduced their stunning impressions of the Canadian landscape to the British public for the first time since the 1920s. Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven was the second most popular exhibition in Gallery history. This exhibition was organised by Dulwich Picture Gallery and the National Gallery of Canada, in collaboration with the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo, and the Goringer Museum. With the generous support of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Giving Summary
Cash £151,000 Gift in Kind £24,800 Marketing and Interpretation £265,200 Total £441,000
Final Visitor Figures:
Projected number of visitors 28,000 Total visitors (exluding patron and corporate events) 39, 846 Total visitors (including patron corporate events) 41,275 Daily average 553 visitors iGuides 362 sold
Lawren Harris, Mt Lefroy, Oil on canvas Tom Thomson, Winter Thaw in the Woods, Oil on composite woodpulp board Reviews
“Aggressively promoted and favourably reviewed in the British press, the exhibition featured the crème de la crème of Canadian landscape paintings.” The Globe and Mail, 10 January 2012
“The Group of Seven will have been heard of by few in Britain... A fascinating hang of his and his peers’ paintings and drawings at the Dulwich Picture Gallery was an education, inevitably, but also a revelation.” The Arts Desk, 28 December 2011
“The Dulwich show is the first exhibition devoted solely to them ever mounted in Britain. Accordingly, Ian Dejardin, the gallery’s director, who fell in love with the artists after stumbling across a book about them in the library of the Royal Academy in the late Eighties, should be congratulated for adventurous programming.” The Telegraph, 14 November 2011
This exhibition, the product very much of the individual enthusiasm of the curator, Ian Dejardin, has done Canada proud and the British gallery goer a service.” The Independent, 14 November 2011
“The splendid exhibition now open at Dulwich Picture Gallery... Unmissable!” The Canada Post,10 November 2011
Dulwich Picture Gallery Home Page, www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk Reviews from https://twitter.com/#!/DulwichReview
“Fantastic to see an exhibition celebrating Canadian painting. Beautifully curated.” 8 January 2012
“This is the most inspiring work I have seen in my life. So fabulous and unknown.” 26 October 2011
“Perfect 10. One of the best exhibitions put on by the gallery. An exhibition of national importance.” 23 October 2011
“This is one of the most beautiful exhibitions I have been to in a long while. It has been a privilege to see it. Thank you.” 6 January 2012
“Such a pleasure to see paintings by the Group of Seven outside Canada. Thanks, DPG, for bringing this great art to London.” 22 November 2011
“An excellent exhibition. The miniatures from the field alongside the final works gives a fantastic insight into the work.” 28 December 2011
“Another Dulwich triumph. I saw and loved these at the Barbican in the 90s and am so pleased to see so much more here.” 5 January 2012
“Beautiful landscapes .. Wild scenery .. Vibrant colours .. Brilliant final room .. Wonderful show.” 22 November 2011
J.E.H. MacDonald, The Little Falls, Tom Thomson, Evening, Canoe Lake, oil on canvas oil on composite woodboard Gallery publications
InView - Magazine of the Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery, Autumn 2011 Gallery publications
Dulwich OnView
Dulwich goes to Canada! OnView, October 2011 http://dulwichonview.org.uk/section/dulwich-picture-gallery/ Gallery publications
Dulwich Picture Gallery website http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/ Gallery publications
What’s On / Exhibition Flyer Gallery publications (continued)
Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven Dinner invitation
Presenting Sponsors
Organised by Dulwich Picture Gallery and the National Gallery of Canada, in collaboration with the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo and the Groninger Museum, The Netherlands. With the generous support of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and the Art Gallery of Ontario and other lenders.
The Chairman of the Trustees, The Sackler Director and the Canadian Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery invite you to the Lenders and Supporters dinner to celebrate the opening of
Media Partners painting canada Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven Supporting Sponsors Sunday 16 October 2011, 7:00pm - 10.30pm FRIENDS OF DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY
RSVP by Friday 7th October Reception 7pm b.o’[email protected] / +44 208 299 8702 Dinner 8pm Dulwich Picture Gallery, Gallery Road, London, UK, SE21 7AD Black Tie
We are also grateful to the Canada House Arts Trust, Timothy Franey Charitable Trust and Farrow and Ball Front Image: Lawren Harris, Winter, 1914, oil on panel, 25.9 x 33.1cm. Collection: A.K. Prakash Press selection
Below: Time Out, 9 November 2010
Above: Bohemia Village, August - September 2011 Press selection (continued)
Guardian, 9 December 2011
The Times Critic’s Choice, Evening Standard, 12 November 2010 20 October 2011 Press selection (continued)
Independent, 29 October 2011
Global News Box, 20 December 2011 Press selection (continued)
Cyprus Weekly, 2 December 2011 Press selection (continued)
The Telegraph 2-for-1 offer
Globe and Mail, 15 October 2011 Promotional Material: Tube, Rail and Bus Campaign
Tube Bus 30 x LEPs at underground stations: Back Route Numbers x 80 Bus Backs Bond Street 76, 15, 0, 91, SE15 Green Park Key Neighbourhoods: London Bridge Blackfriars Bridge, Brixton, Brockley Piccadilly Circus Rise, Clapham Common, Clapham Pimlico Junction, Crystal Palace, East Dulwich, Victoria Elephant and Castle, Farringdon, Vauxhall Herne Hill, Honor Oak, Kings Cross Euston Station, Ludgate Circus, Notting Hill Gate, Nunhead Station, Old Kent Rail Road, Peckham, Peckham Rye, 10 x 4 sheets at: Putney, Wandsworth London Bridge London Victoria
Painting Canada Tube campaign Painting Canada South Eastern Network campaign Promotional Material: A3 Poster Distribution
Poster distribution:
Poster area Distribution start Distribution Print quantity date period
Dulwich & Herne 17/10/11 2 weeks 40 Hill
Clapham & 17/10/11 2 weeks 40 Battersea
Greenwich & 17/10/11 2 weeks 40 Blackheath
Peckham & 17/10/11 2 weeks 40 Camberwell Promotional Material: On Site Exhibition Banners
Gallery Road banner Promotional Material: On Site Exhibition Banners (continued)
College Road entrance banner Promotional Material: On Site Exhibition Banners (continued)
College Road entrance banner and poster Contact Details
Lily Harriss Director of Development and Communications T: +44 (0)20 8299 8747 E: [email protected] James Thompson Development Manager T: +44 (0)20 8299 8725 E: [email protected] Dulwich Picture Gallery Gallery Road London SE21 7AD T: +44 (0)20 8299 5254 F: +44 (0)20 8299 8700 Registered Charity No. 1040942