Subject: Landscape

About the Exhibition

Artists: A. J. Casson (1898–1992), Maurice Cullen (1866–1934), Clarence Gagnon (1881–1942), Molly Lamb Bobak (1920–2014), Jean Paul Lemieux (1904–1990), David Milne (1882–1953), Albert H. Robinson (1881–1956), Philip Surrey (1910–1990), and F. H. Varley (1881–1969).

The word landscape refers to artwork that focuses on the natural features of a particular place or environment. This display of works from the gallery’s permanent collection is inspired by the exhibition Lost and Found located in the adjacent gallery. Part of the Lost and Found project took place along the Rouge River Trail behind the gallery last summer. The works here depict a variety of locations and were produced using various mediums and styles.

How do artists depict the environment in their work? How has that changed throughout history? What is your relationship to the natural places around you?

Image credits
1 and thumbnail: F. H. Varley, Snow People, c. 1929, watercolour on paper, 29.0 cm x 36.7 cm. Collection of the Varley Art Gallery of Markham. Gift of the Estate of Kathleen Gormley McKay, 1996.1.56
2, 4, 6: Installation views of Subject: Landscape, Varley Art Gallery of Markham, 2023. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid
3: Clarence Gagnon, Le cap au Corbeaux, Baie St Paul, 1915, oil on panel, 12.1 cm x 18.0 cm. Collection of the Varley Art Gallery of Markham. Gift of the Estate of Anne Stanfield, 2021.10.02
5: David Milne, Snow from the North III, 1941, watercolour on paper, 38.2 cm x 55.6 cm. Collection of the Varley Art Gallery of Markham. Gift of the Estate of Anne Stanfield, 2021.10.03