When Ian Dejardin first encountered the Group of Seven in the late 1980s, he was stunned by their visual impact and was determined to learn everything he could about these seminal figures in the history of 20th-century Canadian art, wrote Postmedia News Sept. 20, in a story about a new European tour of the group’s works.

But it wasn’t until 2006, a year after he was appointed director of the Dulwich Gallery, that Dejardin had a chance to visit Canada and view first-hand the works of Tom Thomson, J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston, Franklin Carmichael, A.Y. Jackson and Lawren Harris. (Thomson is associated with the group but was never an official member.)

Then two years later, the doors began to open, thanks to Canadian art patron David Thomson, who introduced Dejardin to the two Canadians who would become his co-curators for the European tour: Katerina Atanassova, chief curator of the McMichael Collection, and Anna Hudson, professor of Canadian art & curatorial studies at York University [Faculty of Fine Arts].

Republished courtesy of YFile– York University’s daily e-bulletin.