Martina Weinhart

This was an excellent, thoughtful book about primarily the Group of Seven, but also about Emily Carr, Tom Thomson, and other artists practising during the First World War and the interwar period. It was put together to accompany an exhibition in Germany, and it includes photos and still images from films that fit thematically with the topics under discussion. The book brings in Indigenous perspectives as well to serve as a counterpoint to the “terra nullius” perspective shown in the Group of Seven’s work: many of the Seven’s landscapes don’t have any people in them, furthering the narrative of Canada as an empty land ripe for European conquest. I really appreciated this extra dimension and context and would recommend this book. The only thing preventing me from giving it five stars is the font used for the body of the articles and the main titles. The lowercase r's and t's had long curls on them, and the spacing on the body text in particular made it hard to focus on the text. The body text also felt a bit too bold. But that is a small quibble.… (mehr)