A Northern Silver Mine 1930

Franklin Carmichael painted ‘A Northern Silver Mine’ with oil paint, though we don’t know exactly when. The first thing that grabs me is how Carmichael flattened everything, turning this rugged landscape into a series of shapes bumping up against each other. See how the hills are just these smooth, green forms, stacked one behind the other? And how the water snakes through like a pale ribbon? It’s like he’s turned the world into a puzzle, where each piece fits just so. Then there’s that silver mine itself, that dark brown mass dominating the foreground. It's solid, sturdy, and anchored to the earth. But the way Carmichael painted it, all sharp angles and clean lines, makes it feel almost artificial, like a geometric intruder in this otherwise organic scene. It reminds me a little of those early modernist painters, like Cezanne, who were trying to break down the world into its essential forms. Carmichael was part of the Group of Seven, and you can see that spirit of bold simplification in this piece. It's like he's not just showing us a landscape, but giving us a recipe for seeing it in a whole new way.