The Paintings of Lawren Harris at the Hammer

On Saturday I visited the Hammer Museum in the Westwood neighborhood of L.A to see the paintings of Lawren Harris.  The exhibit is entitled " The Idea of North" which refers to the Canadian artists paintings of Northern Ontario Province of Canada.  Harris founded the Group of Seven in Toronto.  The group was made up of Canadian artists that worked together from the 1920's to the 1930's.  Harris had a bit of money so not only created work space for the artists but also paid for the rail fare from Ontario each fall to view the beautiful north woods country and to paint what they saw. They traveled and painted scenes from the north country in other Provinces as well.

The museum description states that Harris was the leading figure in defining Canadian art in the 20th Century that became deeply rooted in Canadian national identity.  The exhibit presents over 20 of Harris's idealized northern landscapes including small panels, painted on beaverboard, and major canvases.  His art has been described as a skillful balance between abstraction and representation.

The exhibit was curated by Steve Martin who is a collector of Harris's works.  However, none of his collection is included in this exhibit.

Here are photos of my favorites:

"Mount Robson from the Northeast," 1930, oil on beaverboard which is a commercially produced pressed paperboard.

"North Shore, Lake Superior," 1926, oil on canvas.  The is one of the most iconic of Harris's paintings of a wind-blasted, weathered tree stump.

"Ice House, Coldwell, Lake Superior," 1923, oil on canvas.

"Mountains in Snow: Rocky Mountain Paintings VII," 1929, oil on canvas.

"Lake Superior Sketch XXXIX," 1923, oil on illustration board.

"North Shore, Baffin Island," 1930, oil on beaverboard.  This island is located in the eastern Arctic.

"Mountain Forms," 1926, oil on canvas.  

"Eskimo Tent, Pangnirtung, Baffin Island," 1930, oil on beaverboard.

"North Shore, Baffin Island," 1930, oil on beaverboard.

"Isolation Peak above Yoho Valley, Rocky Mts." 1929, oil on beaverboard. Some of Harris's paintings have combined elements of several sites.

"Mount Lefroy," 1926, oil on paperboard.  This is a preparatory study for a monumental canvas, "Mt. Lefroy."

"In Buchanan Bay, Ellesmere Island," 1930, oil on beaverboard.

"Lake Superior," 1924, oil on canvas.

"Lake Harbour, South Shore, Baffin Island, Morning," 1930, oil on beaverboard.

"Lake Superior," 1923, oil on canvas.

"Ellesmere Island," 1930, oil on board.

"Mr. Lefroy," 1930, oil on canvas

"Above Lake Superior," 1922, oil on canvas.