Background
Jackson was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on October 3, 1882. His father abandoned A.Y. Jackson's family of six children while he was very young.
1920
Frederick Varley, A. Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris, Barker Fairley, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, and J. E. H. MacDonald.
1930
Alexander Young (A.Y.) Jackson.
111 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60603, United States
Art Institute of Chicago.
100 McCaul St, Toronto, ON M5T 1W1, Canada
Ontario College of Art and Design University.
107 Tunnel Mountain Dr, Banff, AB T1L 1H5, Canada
Banff Centre.
A. Y. Jackson with his painting.
A.Y. Jackson sketching at Go Home Bay.
Jackson was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on October 3, 1882. His father abandoned A.Y. Jackson's family of six children while he was very young.
With five siblings, Jackson began working at age of twelve for various lithography firms in Montréal between 1895 and 1906 and in Chicago from 1906 to 1907 to help his mother support the family. Working at the lithography company, his interest in art began to develop and he took evening classes to train as an artist. Concurrently he attended night schools, including the Conseil des arts et manufactures in Montréal (1896-1899) under Edmond Dyonnet and at the Chicago Art Institute (1906-1907). At this time he was greatly influenced by Impressionism, and this became obvious in his work. In 1907, he traveled to Paris to study impressionism with Jean-Paul Laurens at the Academie Julien. He stayed in Europe until December 1909, studying, traveling and sketching.
In the year 1941 A.Y. Jackson received an honorary doctorate from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. By 1953, he was granted another honorary doctorate from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. In the 1960’s, he received another two honorary doctorates both from the University of Saskatchewan and from the University of British Columbia.
In 1912 Jackson returned to Montreal to spend time working on his art. Discouraged with the Canadian art scene, he received a letter from two members of the Original Seven asking him join them. As a result, he moved to Toronto in the fall of 1913. Soon he was sharing his studio with a shy, uncertain painter, Tom Thomson. They quickly became close friends, to their mutual advantage: A.Y. Jackson taught Tom Thomson aspects of technique, especially colour, while Thomson gave lessons to Jackson about the Canadian wilderness. In February 1914 Jackson went to Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park. After his trip to the Rockies, A.Y. Jackson returned in the park that autumn along with Thomson, Arthur Lismer and Fred Varley. It was time that he painted his sketch The Red Maple.
After the outbreak of First World War, in 1915 A.Y. Jackson joined the Canadian Army and was sent to Europe. He served for two years until he was wounded in the Battle of Sanctuary Wood in June of 1916. While in the hospital in northern France, he got acquainted with Lord Beaverbrook. Soon he was appointed an artist by the Canadian War Records and was immediately required to paint a portrait, despite his little experience with such themes. His later works were more connected with depicting landscapes. Between 1917 and 1919, he worked for the Canadian War Memorials serving as a war artist.
Back in Canada as of 1918, Jackson spent the summer of 1919 painting in Georgian Bay, and in September joined Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald and Franz Johnston in a boxcar trip into Algoma. It was the year he formally became a representative of the Group of Seven. These and subsequent expeditions provided him with the necessary material for the first exhibition of the Group of Seven, which was held in Toronto in May 1920. A.Y. Jackson actively participated in seven subsequent Group exhibitions and shows, including the controversial British Empire Exhibition in Wembley, England in 1924. By 1925, he also started to teach at the Ontario College of Art (now Ontario College of Art and Design University). However, he resigned after one year to continue his outdoor sketches.
All his life Jackson remained an ardent proponent of the Group's land-based nationalism. Being extremely interested in depicting landscapes, he painted Canada's most distinct climates, especially favoring winter. He also visited remote regions, for instance, the Arctic, which he visited twice, in 1927 and 1930. After the original sevens last exhibition in 1931, a new group, The Canadian Group of Painters, was formed with Jackson and Lismer as the two mentors. Jackson continued to travel and paint. Concurrently, he acted as a mentor for other young artists. In 1936 A.Y. Jackson visited Europe again. During this time he often traveled around Canada on art expeditions.
A.Y. Jackson traveled to Banff in 1943 where he spent six years teaching at the Banff School of Fine Arts. Simultaneously, he worked also as an art columnist for the Toronto new. By the year 1953, he moved back to Ontario. In 1968 Jackson had a stroke, and spent his last six years living at the home of Robert and Signe McMichael, now it's the McMichael Collection art gallery in Kleinburg.
Nellie Lake
Grey Day, Laurentians
River St. Urbain
The Red Maple
Smart River (Alaska)
North Shore, Lake Superior
Winter Morning, Charlevoix County
First Snow, Algoma Country
The Road to St. Fidele
Frozen Lake, Early Spring, Algonquin Park
Spring, Caribou Country
St. John's, Newfoundland
Algoma in November
Maple Woods, Algoma
Skeena Crossing
Valley of the Gouffre River
Barns
Wilderness, Deese Bay
Entrance to Halifax Harbour
Terre Sauvage
Night Pine Island
March Storm, Georgian Bay
Indian Home
The Winter Road, Quebec
Houses, St. Urbain
The Beothic at Bache Post, Ellesmere Island
October Morning, Algoma (Wartz Lake)
Hills at Great Bear Lake
Early Spring, Quebec
The Edge of the Maple Wood
Quotations:
"Artists are often excellent businessmen. They have to be. Otherwise, they do not remain artists."
"It's probably hard for anyone looking at my landscapes today to realize that I was once regarded as a rebel, a dangerous influence; that I've been told I was on the verge of insanity, that my painting was nothing but meaningless daubs. Lawren Harris, the man most responsible for drawing the Group of Seven together, was accused of something perilously close to treason - his paintings, said his severest critics, were discouraging immigration."
"There were dozens of lakes, many of them not on the map. For identification purposes we gave them names. The bright sparkling lakes we named after people we admired... to the swampy ones, all messed up with moose tracks, we gave the names of the critics who disparaged us."
"Those who follow are always behind."
"We broke from old tradition. I am an objective painter, I should like to go abstract, but I don't know how."
Quotes from others about the person
Walter H. Klinkhoff: "He was a personality of strength and charm, a gentleman, a truly great Canadian."