Throughout the week, we discussed the topic of “Public and Private Canada” with a main focus on Tourism and Environmentalism. Within these topics, we have The Group of Seven who were a group of seven Canadian landscape painters, and in addition to this, we have Wildlife Conservation in the Canadian North. In Lynda Jessup’s article “The Group of Seven and the Tourist Landscape in Western Canada, or The More Things Change”, she discusses how The Group of Seven’s paintings influenced tourism in Western Canada. “The landscape in the paintings… were not a place of productive labour, nor a permanent home, but rather a place of recreation, a wilderness landscape of scenic value and spiritual renewal… [and] ‘uninhabited wilderness’”[1]. These landscapes depicted by the painters drew in “elite, urban tourists”[2] to the locations in Canada, but also to purchase theses paintings. The Group of Seven’s influence in tourism in Western Canada is also evident in Northern Canada, which is show in the article “The Group of Seven and Northern Development” written by Paul H. Walton. Walton expresses many of the same ideas that were portrayed in the Jessup’s article about The Group of Seven. “Their works evoked romantic communion with the ‘wilderness’ by means of… beautiful valleys and picturesque details… the combination and imposition of these patterns of form and feeling on the Northern country had [amongst other things, influenced the tourist industry]”[3]. Both Jessup and Walton’s articles deal with The Group of Seven and how landscape paintings brought in tourism. However, John Sandlos’ article, “From the Outside Looking in: Aesthetics, Politics, and Wildlife Conservation in the Canadian North” talks about environmentalism in terms of wilderness conservation and the tie with aesthetics. “The overimagining of the North and the maintenance of aesthetic distance precluded a practical, social, and ecological relationship with the landscape”[4] and “it would be naïve to suggest that such views of the land represent the practice of a perfect natural form of wildlife conservation”[5]. Sandols’ article not only talks about wildlife conservation and aesthetics but can also be tied into the idea of tourism and how people viewed the landscape.
All the readings contribute to the topic of “Public and Private Canada” but with more of a focus on the aspects of tourism and environmentalism. The readings depict these aspects by using examples such as The Groups of Seven and how their landscape paintings contribute to increase in tourism and the development of parts of Canada. Wildlife conservation and aesthetics also contribute to the overall idea of environmentalism and tourism. These readings not only help us to understand the topics discussed in the lecture, but also contribute to the wider historiography of the topic “Public and Private Canada”.
Endnotes:
[1] Lynda Jessup, “The Group of Seven and the Tourist Landscape in Western Canada, or The More Things Change,” Journal of Canadian Studies: 37,1 (2002): 146.
[2] Ibid., 147.
[3] Paul H. Walton, “The Group of Seven and Northern Development,” Canadian Art Review, 17, 2 (1990): 173.
[4] John Sandlos, “From the Outside Looking In: Aesthetics, Politics, and Wildlife Conservation in the Canadian North,” Environmental History, 6,1 (January 2001): 7.
[5] Ibid., 17.
Bibliography:
Jessup, Lynda. “The Group of Seven and the Tourist Landscape in Western Canada, or The More Things Change.” Journal of Canadian Studies, 37,1 (2002): 144-179.
Sandlos, John. “From the Outside Looking In: Aesthetics, Politics, and Wildlife Conservation in the Canadian North.” Environmental History, 6,1 (January 2001): 6-31.
Walton, H. Paul. “The Group of Seven and Northern Development,” Canadian Art Review, 17, 2 (1990): 171-179, 205-208.
