Pomegranate Franklin Carmichael: Flowers Notecard Folio

The artistic talent of Franklin Carmichael (Canadian, 1890–1945) was evident at an early age—sufficiently so, that his mother enrolled him in both music and art lessons. As a teenager growing up in Orillia, Ontario, Carmichael worked in his father’s shop as a carriage striper. Working on the scrolled decorations of the carriages, he practiced his design, drawing, and coloring skills. In 1911, he moved to Toronto where he studied art at the Toronto Technical School and the Ontario College of Art. He was hired as an office boy by Grip Ltd., where the head designer was J. E. H. MacDonald, one of the most prominent men in his field at the time.

In 1920, Carmichael and MacDonald, along with Lawren Harris, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston, and A. Y. Jackson, decided to exhibit as the Group of Seven. These artists were committed to exploring, through art, the unique character of the Canadian landscape.

Collectively they agreed: Canada’s rugged wilderness regions needed to be recorded in a distinctive painting style. This style would break from European tradition and reflect an increasingly nationalistic sentiment. The Group’s first exhibition opened at the Art Gallery of Toronto in May of that year, marking an exceptional moment in Canadian(more…)

Ten 5 x 7 in. blank notecards (5 each of 2 designs) with envelopes in a decorative folio

Published with the McMichael Canadian Art Collection

ISBN 9780764944284