Arthur Lismer Canadian, 1885-1969

We are excited to announce a rare and important canvas by Arthur Lismer is now available for private sale. Painted in 1923, The Green Boat depicts Georgian Bay, a landscape which played a vital role in Lismer’s development. He first visited Georgian Bay in 1913 at the invitation of Dr. James MacCallum, who hosted him at his cottage on Go Home Bay. That initial exposure to the region’s wind-swept pines, sculpted shorelines, and expansive skies deeply shaped his artistic direction. Georgian Bay became a shared sketching ground for many members of the Group, fostering a collective commitment to depicting the wilderness as a source of national identity. The Green Boat was part of this evolving vision and was publicly exhibited shortly after its creation in the Ontario Society of Artists’ Fifty-Second Annual Exhibition at the Art Gallery of Toronto from March 8 to April 8, 1924, underscoring the importance of the work within Arthur Lismer’s Group of Seven period.