Mountains and Lake 1929

Lawren Harris painted 'Mountains and Lake', a starkly beautiful landscape, during a period when Canadian identity was being forged in the shadow of world events. As a founding member of the Group of Seven, Harris sought to define a unique Canadian aesthetic, deeply rooted in the land itself. He turned to the northern landscapes, rendering them in simplified forms and bold colors. There is a spiritual quality, an attempt to capture the sublime essence of the Canadian wilderness. Harris’s landscapes resonate with a sense of the divine in nature, echoing transcendentalist ideals. But we might also ask, whose land is being represented here? The Group of Seven's romantic vision often overlooked the Indigenous presence and their deep connection to the land. This creates a tension, a need to acknowledge the complex layers of history and dispossession that underlie these iconic images. Harris once said, “Art is the expression of man's joy in labor.” There is an undeniable power in Harris's vision, but it asks us to consider whose voices are included and excluded in the narratives we tell about ourselves and our landscapes.