By Charles Lefebvre

Group of Seven exhibit on display at Esplanade until Saturday

Jul 12, 2018 | 5:15 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Medicine Hat residents have only a few more days to check out work from some of Canada’s most famous artists.

The Alberta and the Group of Seven exhibit currently on display at the Esplanade will only be on display until Saturday.

“It’s just been amazing,” said Joanne Marion, art gallery director with the Esplanade. “To actually be able to see oil paintings by Lawren Harris, MacDonald and Varley, to actually have them in the building hanging on the wall is fantastic.”

The exhibit, guest curated by Mary-Beth Laviolette, focuses on the relationship between members of the Group of Seven and Alberta artists during the time period.

The Group of Seven is the name given to artists Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald and Frederick Varley, who are best known for their paintings of Canadian landscapes. The work in the exhibit includes pieces by members of the group and several artists from Alberta they worked with.

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The art was sourced from multiple locations, including private collections.

“We don’t have the opportunity to show a lot of Group of Seven works here, I think we’ve maybe showed a handful over the past two decades,” said Marion. “She’s done a huge amount of work in pulling together the loans of these works from private sources, as well as at least a half dozen institutions around the province.”

Marion says the community has responded positively to the exhibit.

“We had one of our biggest turnouts of visitors to the gallery for the opening reception in May, and the traffic has been really nice and steady through the summer,” she said.

Downtown Medicine Hat is hosting an art walk on Friday, and the final day for the exhibit is Saturday.