signed lower right; signed, titled & dated verso and on the artist’s label
Provenance: Roberts Gallery, Toronto ON; Collection Claude Courcy, Montreal QC; Peter Ohler Fine Arts, Vancouver BC
Toronto born A.J. Casson received his early artistic training at Hamilton Technical School, subsequently apprenticing at the Laidlaw Lithography Company. When his family moved back to Toronto, in 1915, he worked as a freelance designer while attending evening art classes at Central Technical School. His work was first exhibited publicly in 1917, at the Canadian National Exhibition. In 1919, Casson accepted a position at the prominent Toronto firm Rous and Mann Publishing, as Franklin Carmichael’s assistant. Carmichael, who became his greatest influence, encouraged the young artist, took him on sketching trips, and introduced him to the Arts and Letters Club. Casson soon became an invited contributor to the Group of Seven shows and, in 1926, he was invited to join the Group, replacing Franz Johnston who had only exhibited in the Group’s first exhibition. That same year, Casson became an associate member of the Royal Canadian Academy, and left Rous & Mann for the Sampson Matthews Company. Casson, who had a strong sense of design and leadership, eventually became Art Director and Vice President. While he continued to paint extensively, Casson only became a full-time artist upon his retirement from the firm in 1957.
A. J. Casson’s design and illustration background is evident in his work, and integral to his evolution as an artist and to the development of his distinct artistic style. His works are amongst the most recognizable and beloved of Canadian collectors. Casson is particularly identified with his Ontario landscapes, noted for their graceful and streamlined composition, and for his carefully considered manipulation of pattern, light and colour.
A. J. Casson was a passionate and avid promoter of Canadian art, and was very active in the artistic community over his long and distinguished career. He served as president of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1948-52), president of the Ontario Society of Artists (1941-44) and sat on several boards including what is now the Art Gallery of Ontario (1955-59). He was also instrumental in founding the Canadian Group of Painters, the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, and in instigating the WWII war artist’s program.
