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Iconic Artworks Celebrate Canada's Creative Spirit
ROM proudly hosts a landmark presentation of original paintings and sketches from the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, bringing together significant and iconic artworks that have shaped the way generations have seen and understood the landscape.
In the early 20th century, the Group of Seven used bold colours and expressive brushwork to capture forests, lakes, and rugged terrain across the country, shaping a distinct vision of Canadian art.
Showcasing paintings by the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, including Tom Thomson, Emily Carr, and others, the exhibition celebrates the land that inspired their creativity. Organized geographically, the exhibition captures the character of the land and the artist’s deep emotional connection to it. As part of Canada’s historical record, these paintings offer both a powerful artistic vision and a glimpse at a period of complicated, profound change across the country.
More than 80 original artworks – including Lawren Harris’s Mt. Lefroy (1930), A.Y. Jackson’s First Snow, Algoma (1919-1920), Tom Thomson’s Woodland Waterfall (1916-1917), and others – invite visitors to appreciate the beauty and vastness of the land known as Canada, to better understand the complex realities of the time in which these landscapes were created, and to connect personal experiences to their enduring legacy.
ROM is honoured to present these iconic works while the McMichael Canadian Art Collection is temporarily closed for renovations.
Image: Arthur Lismer (1885-1945), Bright Land, 1938. Oil on canvas. Gift of Colonel R. S. McLaughlin. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1868.7.9. Image used with permission.
Information
Members' and Patrons' exhibition tickets will be available starting on September 25, 2026.
