Lake Kamaniskeg, circa 1930

Roberts Gallery, Toronto Peter Dobush, Montreal, 1958 Gift to the Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1965

"The Peter Dobush Donation", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 16 November-1 December 1965 "Some Canadian Landscape Painters from the Winnipeg Art Gallery Collection", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 10 October 1981-28 February 1982 "Little Pictures", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 19 February-17 April 1983 "Founders’ Exhibition: The Peter Dobush Donation", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 26 April-7 July 1985 "Stored Secrets: The Vault on View", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 11 September- 27 November 1994 "The Collection on View: The Modernist Tradition 1900-1950", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 19 August 2011-31 March 2013 "The Collection on View: The Modernist Tradition 1900-1950", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 27 September 2013-12 October 2014 "The Collection on View: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 27 June 2015-2 April 2018

A.J. Casson, the youngest member of the Group of Seven, was born in Toronto in 1898. He pursued his artistic education at the Ontario College of Art under the guidance of J.W. Beatty from 1918 to 1921 and participated in private lessons with Harry Britton between 1916 and 1918. In 1919, when the young A.J. Casson began his career as a design assistant to Franklin Carmichael at the Rous and Mann firm, he could not have anticipated the extraordinary path his artistic journey would take. Carmichael, who was both demanding and friendly, became a close friend, mentor, and sketching partner. It was through Carmichael that Casson met the influential members of the Group of Seven at Toronto’s Arts and Letters Club. This connection allowed the passionate artist to showcase his work with the Group, ultimately leading him to succeed Frank Johnston in 1926 when Johnston chose to explore other pursuits. Casson established his artistic voice through depictions of southern Ontario villages, rural landscapes, and the Ontario north. This oil depicts Lake Kamaniskeg, which is located just southeast of Algonquin Park in Ontario, near Barry's Bay. This area was frequented by Group of Seven members who embarked on both collective and independent sketching trips. As a result, Algonquin Park and the surrounding area have become an iconic visual reference in Canadian art history. "Lake Kamaniskeg" showcases Casson's expert ability to render the distinct seasons in Ontario and his exploration of the subtleties of the variations of green in the landscape.