Arthur Lismer
(1885-1969)

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Arthur Lismer was an English-Canadian painter, known for his involvement in the Group of Seven. Lismer was born in Sheffield, England. As a child, he worked at a photo engraving company, which peaked his interest in the arts. Lismer received a scholarship to take courses at the Sheffield School of Arts. In 1905 Lismer moved to Belgium to study art full-time at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.

Before the Group of Seven became fully developed, Lismer spent some years moving around Canada. Lismer worked at the Victoria School of Art and Design in British Columbia and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax. In 1918 Lismer returned to Toronto, where he became the vice-president of the Ontario College of Art and Design.

During the 1920s, the Group of Seven began to exhibit annually in Toronto, and received strong reviews for developing a truly Canadian style of painting. Lismer began to receive an international reputation in the 1930s, and was asked to give lectures in cities and universities around the world. In 1936 Lismer spent a year teaching in South Africa. From 1941 to 1967 Lismer lived in Montreal, where worked for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts as a facilitator of the Children’s Art Center.

As Lismer spent more time teaching, only his summers were left free to paint. Lismer frequently took painting trips to the Maritimes, Georgian Bay and Vancouver Island. Lismer spent his final year in Montreal, where he was buried next to the other members of the Group of Seven at the McMichael Gallery Grounds. Lismer’s paintings are now in major Canadian and international collections. Do you think you own a painting by Arthur Lismer? Contact us. We are the experts on Arthur Lismer.