A.Y. Jackson (1882-1974)
A.Y Jackson in Toronto’s Studio Building, 1944
Alexander Young Jackson, born October 3, 1882, in Montreal and died April 5, 1974, in Kleinburg (Ontario), is a Canadian painter and a founding member of the Group of Seven. In 1910, Jackson painted Edge of the Maple Wood which allowed him to create a link with the future members of the Group of Seven. Then, Tom Thomson taught Jackson about the Canadian wilderness, which is why he was a builder of the Canadian visual image.
In 1933, Jackson co-founded the Canadian Group of Painters with several members of the Group of Seven. In 1925, he was teacher in the Ontario College of Art (today: Ontario College of Art and Design) and in 1943 at the Banff School of Fine Arts. The final years of his life were passed as an artist-in-residence at the McMichael Gallery (today: McMichael Canadian Art Collection).
Alexander Young Jackson was put apart from the rest of the Group through diverse characteristics:
Jackson used a vibrant and diverse color palette, with a particular emphasis on purples and blues.
He created a narrative quality with signs of human activity, such as villages, habitations, farms, and roads, rather than having uninhabited wilderness like some members of the group.
His artistic journeys took him to diverse regions across Canada, from the Arctic to the eastern provinces. His exploration of different locales contributed to a wide variety of landscapes in his work, reflecting the diversity of the Canadian environment.
