A. Y. Jackson

The lore of the boxcar trips north of Lake Superior between 1919 and 1925 by members of the Group of Seven is well known. On each of those trips were A.Y. Jackson and Lawren Harris. For six years in a row they perfected their camping techniques and sketched in oil the wild colours of fall on the north shore of Lake Superior and in Algoma Country. Sketches in pencil were produced as well, perhaps more as a diary entry than an idea for a future fully-realized oil painting. Jackson recalls in A Painter’s Country:

“There were few places to stay in this country, so we took with us a tent and camping equipment. We chose our camp sites [sic] with great care, always near water, protected from wind, and on ground that sloped away from the tent…It was a strenuous life. Harris was up before daylight, making a lot of noise with pots and pans as he got breakfast. The rain would be pattering on the tent when Harris would call, ‘Come on, get up.’”

Literature:
Jackson, A.Y., A Painter’s Country: The Autobiography of A.Y. Jackson (Clarke, Irwin & Company: Toronto, 1964), 57-58