The North Channel at Little Current

About The North Channel at Little Current

This oil landscape painting is by the Group of Seven’s A J Casson.

Alfred Joseph Casson is considered an important figure in Canadian art and is highly prized by collectors around the world as a member of the famous Group of Seven. He was, in fact, its youngest member best known for depicting his love of nature in beautiful landscapes, rural scenes and images of small town Ontario. This serene landscape captures an area in Northeastern Ontario near Manitoulin Island. A river winds its way through the countryside—the ruins of an old barn framed by hills in the distance and a cloudy sky. The colour palette is muted-soft greens, pale blues, grays and browns punctuated by white. Casson’s aesthetic favoured simple form and clear colours.

"I don't want to force painting, I want to be myself, but how do I make my work stand out as mine? Begin with a subject of personal meaning.” A J Casson

Alfred Joseph Casson was born in Toronto (1898-1992). His first exposure to art was in high school. By age 15, he was already working as an apprentice at a lithography business in Hamilton—the beginning of a lifelong career as a commercial artist. He moved on to two commercial art firms in Toronto where he worked as an assistant to the artist Franklin Carmichael, one of the founding members of the renowned Group of Seven. Carmichael encouraged him to sketch and paint on his own. Casson was invited to join the Group of Seven in the 1920s, with whom he painted for years. Following their demise, he formed the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour in 1933. He became a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1940 and an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Casson became the Art Director and finally the Vice President of the Ontario College of Art. He retired in 1957 to paint full time. He died a few days short of his 94th birthday and is buried on the grounds of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinberg, Ontario, beside five other members of the Group of Seven. His work is held in many private collections around the world and publicly in the Ontario Gallery of Art, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and the National Gallery of Canada.