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Sudbury·Backroads Bill

Walking in the footsteps of the Group of Seven

Nearly a century ago, the group of artists travelled into northern Ontario and farther afield to capture the beauty that lay just beyond the outskirts of Canada’s urban areas.
CBC News ·
Backroads Bill Steer enjoys exploring the hinterland of northern Ontario. He provides a weekly column to CBC Radio in Sudbury at 99.9 FM. (Supplied by Bill Steer)
Note: Bill Steer's weekly column can be heard on CBC radio in Sudbury.
Here is one example of a painting done in the Wawa area by A.Y Jackson. The painting, called Shoreline, was created near where Jackson once owned a cottage. (Supplied)
A picture of the Wawa beach that inspired A.Y. Jackson's 1955 Shoreline painting. (Bill Steer)
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Nearly a century ago, the group of artists travelled into northern Ontario and farther afield to capture the beauty that lay just beyond the outskirts of Canada's urban areas.

Armed with sketchbooks, brushes, and paint boxes, they set off into the heart of the wilderness with the singular purpose of interpreting the landscape in a modern mode of artistic expression.

Where exactly did the Group of Seven paint their magnificent landscapes?

CBC News Sudbury guest columnist Bill Steer provides some examples, including one of a painting in the Wawa area by A.Y Jackson, near where the famous painter once owned a cottage:

Morning North5:33Backroads Bill - Landscapes that inspired the Group of Seven
Today Bill and Barry Mercer have a chat about some of the areas of northern Ontario that have inspired some of the country's most iconic art.

Here are his directions to the inspiration spot for the painting called Shoreline (1955):

  • Drive south of Wawa on Highway 17; five km; and find the road heading west to Michipicoten Harbour.
  • Drive about 1 km you will come to an intersection.
  • Turn right (north), drive to the small wooden bridge; that is Silver Falls; drive on past the cemeteries, up the steep hill and down to Lake Superior.
  • You will come to the municipal beach.
  • At the shoreline walk north all the way to the far end of the beach and up and over the rocks to the tiny cove.
  • This location is WGS 84  Zone 16 T  E 0659744 N 5313795 or N47° 57' 27.1" W84° 51' 36.8".

For more information about where to find the landscapes captured by the Group of Seven artists, Steer recommends picking up Following in the Footsteps of the Group of Seven, a coffee table book that traces the work of Jim and Sue Waddington. The couple has a passion for locating the actual sketching sites for artworks by members of the Group of Seven.

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