Tumpline NEWS | EVENTS | CANOES | TRIPS | CONSERVATION | HERITAGE |
J.E.H. MacDonald’s The Solemn Land: then and now. MAIN PHOTO: GARY MCGUFFIN
[ NeWs ] A
fter canoeing across Canada, around Lake Superior and through the wildest
reaches of northern Ontario, acclaimed pho- tojournalists Gary and Joanie McGuffin are now getting their adventure kicks closer to home. Te McGuffins have partnered with Michael Burtch, the retired director of the Art Gallery of Algoma, to retrace the trails and photograph the painting sites of the Group of Seven.
INSET PHOTO: J.E.H. MACDONALD, COPYRIGHT NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA, OTTAWA
project will focus on the period between the group’s formation in 1919 and when they disbanded in 1930. When they find the exact site of a painting, McGuffin frames the scene in a photograph proportional to the artist’s original canvas. Currently, Burtch and the McGuffins are
combing the Algoma Central Railway line, north of Sault Ste. Marie, for painters J.E.H. MacDonald, Lawren Harris and Frank John-
it’s a great combination of art history and adventure. “We grew up in homes and cottages with
images of the Group of Seven,” says Gary Mc- Guffin, “and now we live right in the heart of their favourite places to paint. We were working with Michael on another project and it hit us. Wouldn’t it be neat to find some of these painting sites of the Group of Seven?” Burtch and the McGuffins piloted the proj-
ect last summer with a canoe trip down the Petawawa River in Algonquin Park, in search of Tom Tomson’s Petawawa Gorges series of canvases. “Michael brought us up to speed on all the biographies of the Group of Seven painters,” says McGuffin. “It’s a great com- bination of art history and adventure.” Te
14 SPRING 2010
of Seven images from across Ontario. “Te story would be how the painters got to these places,” he says, “and describing the investi- gative work we did to revisit the sites.” A sideline project might be a “map-inten-
sive guidebook to actually get people to find these spots on their own,” says McGuffin. “It’s turned into a quest…it’s a dream proj- ect for us.”—Conor Mihell
ston’s most iconic subject matter. Since parts of the landscape have been altered by log- ging and hydroelectric development, a large portion of the project has involved identify- ing how scenes have changed over time, and poring over painters’ journals and letters for clues on directions to specific sites. McGuffin was especially struck by Mac-
Donald’s response to the landscape along the Agawa Canyon. “He was obviously over- whelmed,” notes McGuffin. “In his letters home he called it ‘the original site of the Garden of Eden’!” Ultimately, McGuffin says he wants to produce a book of 100 then-and-now Group
[ eveNts ] Full event schedule at
Canoerootsmag.com
FEBRUARY 26–28 Outdoor Adventure and Travel Show Toronto, ON
outdooradventureshow.ca
MARCH 12–14 Canoecopia Madison, WI
rutabaga.com/canoecopia
APRIL 16–18 East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival Charleston, SC
ccprc.com/kayak.html
MAY 14–16 Canoe 10— The Canadian Canoe Symposium Palmer Rapids, ON
rapidmedia.com
MAY 21–23 Palmer Fest Palmer Rapids, ON
rapidmedia.com
JUNE 26 National Canoe Day Locations across Canada
nationalcanoeday.net
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