Analysis of Contemporary Art: Canadian Landscape Painting

This report analyzes the role of contemporary art, specifically focusing on Canadian landscape painting, in shaping cultural identity and reflecting societal values. The report examines the influence of the Group of Seven and their depiction of wilderness, connecting it to political and economic contexts. It discusses the historical background of landscape art in Canada, the influence of the environment, and the evolution of artistic representation. The analysis draws from the book ‘Beyond Wilderness’ and explores how landscape paintings have been used to express and reinforce cultural narratives. The report considers the paintings' impact on Canadian identity, the portrayal of nature, and the significance of landscapes in the context of colonialism and industrialization. The report concludes with a discussion on the ongoing relevance of landscape art in contemporary society and its capacity to reflect changing social relationships and environmental concerns.

Running Head: CONTEMPORARY ART
CONTEMPORARY ART
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note:

1CONTEMPORARY ART
“Race, Wilderness, Territory, and the origins of Modern Canadian Landscape Painting”
by Scott Watson is an artistic presentation of the purpose of landscape art in Canadian culture.
This section has been collected from the book namely ‘Beyond Wilderness: The Group of Seven,
Canadian Identity, and Contemporary Art’. The readers agreed with the fact that the painter of
the era as children of ‘British immigrants or immigrant themselves’ (O'Brian, John, and Peter
White).
Their landscape pictures with significant emptiness played a crucial role in making the
nature of Canada nationalize. According to the narrator, the landscape pictures with the essence
of wilderness were intended for the middle-class of Toronto. Hence, it is no denial of the fact
that, that the contemporary art is elevating a particular race or culture through paintings. In this
point, the author took the name of Homer and Hesiod with the claim ‘The group’s Northern
Ontario canvases are doing for Canadian painting what the epic poets do for their races.’ The
author also demonstrated the picture of Thomson namely ‘Algonquin Park’. According to the
narrator, this picture depicts the wilderness of contemporary exploitation of politics and finance.
To provide evidence for the previous comment, digging the history it is known that the majority
of the place Ontario was a crown land. However, during the early nineteenth century the place
victimized various industrial and social conflicts. According to the reviews, ‘Beyond Wilderness’
is an expansion of common understanding about the presentation of Canadian landscapes.
In conclusion, an argument can be stated on the existence of landscape in Canadian art
and the twentieth century national imagination. This particular section of the book is the way to
define the need of reinvention of landscapes in Canadian art. The landscapes are the way to
emphasize diverse changing nature, social relationships, and issues of the colonial authority.
Hence, the author’s perception about landscape paintings can be agreed based on the mentioned

2CONTEMPORARY ART
ground. The landscape paintings in Canadian culture represents the nature of the contemporary
society.
References
O'Brian, John, and Peter White, eds. Beyond Wilderness: The Group of Seven, Canadian
Identity, and Contemporary Art. McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2017.