Study of Trees: Autumn, circa early 1920s

Estate of the Artist 

Private Collection

Franklin Carmichael: paintings, water colours and prints, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Extension Department, travelling to Orillia Public Library; York Public Library, Toronto; Museum and Art Centre, Sudbury; Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Owen Sound; Cobourg Art Gallery; Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa; Barrie Art Club and London Public Library and Art Museum, 11 September 1970-14 June 1971, no. 1, 2 or 3 as Study of Trees: Autumn

Augustus Bridle, "Are These New Canadian Painters Crazy?" Canadian Courier XXV:17 (22 May 1920), page 10
Dennis Reid, The Group of Seven, Ottawa/Montreal, 1970
Joan Murray and Claire Haggan, Franklin Carmichael: paintings, water colours and prints, Toronto, 1970
"Franklin Carmichael: Honor Orillia-Born Artist", Orillia Packet (26 September 1970)

The year 1970 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Group of Seven’s inaugural exhibition held at the Art Gallery of Toronto in May 1920. The milestone moment led to many cultural initiatives across central Canada. From May through fall, the Art Gallery of Ontario, National Gallery of Canada, and Montreal Museum of Fine Arts presented a major exhibition on the Group of Seven with a book and bibliography, authored by the late Dennis Reid (1943-2023). On September 18, Canada Post launched the fiftieth event by issuing a new 6-cent stamp depicting Arthur Lismer’s Isles of Spruce, 1922 (University of Toronto Art Museum, HH1928.006). That year too, the Art Gallery of Ontario organized a solo exhibition of Carmichael’s work which toured to nine venues throughout the province. Comprised mostly of sketches and small works, it was the first time that his work had been given significant attention since the two memorial exhibitions organized by the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1947, and the Orillia Artists’ Guild in 1961. The sketch known today as Study of Trees: Autumn was among those shown in the provincial tour. The title was not given by the artist but rather was descriptive, assigned during the exhibition development in order to keep track of Carmichael’s many untitled early sketches.

In the exhibition, Franklin Carmichael: paintings, water colours and prints, the sketch Study of Trees: Autumn introduced audiences to Carmichael’s early work in oil, followed by his paintings in watercolour and works as a printmaker. As a representative sketch from this early period of his career, this fall scene includes a warm palette of complementary colours comprised of taupe, yellows, and greens. Carmichael has often been recognized for his work as a colourist, and it was the critic Augustus Bridle who once described such sketches by Carmichael as “little gems of poetic colour.” In the absence of an artist’s title, knowledge of Carmichael’s subject cannot be confirmed, but his preferred sketching areas in those years extended from Orillia to Collingwood and Lansing in north Toronto.

It was fitting that Carmichael’s touring exhibition opened at the Orillia Public Library on September 11, 1970, since Orillia was the artist’s place of birth. !e exhibition was said to be a great success when it was recorded afterwards in the circulating exhibition report prepared for the Art Gallery of Ontario, that it was “a splendid show—one of the most popular we have ever had.” The exhibition coincided with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque in honour of Carmichael on September 26, erected by the Ontario Archeological and Historic Sites Board, near the Orillia Public Library. Local press documented the unveiling with much enthusiasm, as the artist’s daughter, Mary Mastin, and Carmichael’s friend, A.J. Casson were both in attendance. When Casson spoke, he remarked that Orillia and the surrounding countryside were a favourite painting ground in the early days of Carmichael’s career. It was a fitting tribute that Study of Trees: Autumn served to introduce visitors to Carmichael’s early paintings in this exhibition.

We extend our thanks to Catharine Mastin, PhD, art historian, curator, and Adjunct Member of the Faculty of Graduate Studies in Art History at York University for contributing the preceding essay. Catharine curated the exhibition Franklin Carmichael: Portrait of a Spiritualist, organized by the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, which toured Canada between 1999 and 2001.