Visual arts

Main article: Canadian art

The Jack Pine by Tom Thomson. Oil on canvas, 1916, in the

collection of the National Gallery of Canada.[474]
Art in Canada is marked by thousands of years of habitation by its Indigenous
peoples,[475] and, in later times, artists have combined British, French, Indigenous, and
American artistic traditions, at times embracing European styles while working to
promote nationalism.[476] The nature of Canadian art reflects these diverse origins, as
artists have taken their traditions and adapted these influences to reflect the reality of
their lives in Canada.[477]
The Canadian government has played a role in the development of Canadian culture
through the department of Canadian Heritage, by giving grants to art galleries,[478] as
well as establishing and funding art schools and colleges across the country, and
through the Canada Council for the Arts, the national public arts funder, helping
artists, art galleries and periodicals, and thus contributing to the development of
Canada's cultural works.[479]
Canadian visual art has been dominated by figures, such as painter Tom
Thomson and the Group of Seven.[480] The latter were painters with a nationalistic and
idealistic focus, who first exhibited their distinctive works in May 1920. Though
referred to as having seven members, five artists—Lawren Harris, A. Y.
Jackson, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley—were responsible
for articulating the group's ideas. They were joined briefly by Frank Johnston and
commercial artist Franklin Carmichael. A. J. Casson became part of the group in
1926.[481] Associated with the group was another prominent Canadian artist, Emily
Carr, known for her landscapes and portrayals of the Indigenous peoples of the
Pacific Northwest Coast.[482]