The ‘Controversial’ Artists Who Beautified St. Anne’s Church in Toronto

Historic church destroyed by fire contained works of art by the Group of Seven.

Clergy, parishioners, and community members gather out front of the burnt-out St. Anne's Anglican Church during an evening vigil to mourn the loss of the church, on June 11, 2024. The Canadian Press/Cole Burston

Commentary

Until its destruction by fire early on June 9, St. Anne’s Gladstone Anglican Church in Toronto was one of the most remarkable ecclesiastical structures in Canada.

Neither the rain that poured down that morning nor the unremitting efforts of firemen could quench the raging flames. Speculation is swirling as to what caused the fire, but for the moment the police have ruled out arson. Whatever its cause, the fire has inflicted an incalculable spiritual and artistic loss upon the city.

Dating back to the early 1900s, St. Anne’s was a capacious structure, unusual among Protestant churches for the magnificent Byzantine dome that crowned it. In 1923, the church commissioned three members of the celebrated Group of Seven—J.E.H. MacDonald, Fred Varley, and Frank Carmichael—as well as seven other artists to create murals to cover its interior walls and dome. The 18 murals depicted scenes from the New Testament, such as the nativity of Jesus, the visit of the three Wise Men to the stable in Bethlehem where Jesus was born, his subduing of the Tempest on the Sea of Galilee, his Transfiguration, his entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, and the Crucifixion.

For many if not most Canadians, the work of the Group of Seven sums up the essence of the Canadian landscape, especially their haunting renditions of the lakes and forests of our wilderness. Some influential opinion-makers disagree, however. Two years ago the Canada Council for the Arts, a federal government cultural agency, issued the following statement on Twitter:

“Let’s liberate the Canadian landscape from the Group of Seven and their nationalist mythmaking: By erasing Indigenous perspectives, Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven painted a new nation into being.”

The way this statement (which was later removed) reads to me is that it’s saying the Group of Seven didn’t just paint landscapes, they were also guilty of the twin sins of nationalism and destroying indigenous perspectives.

The reality is, as Toronto Sun columnist Warren Kinsella points out, Norval Morrisseau, one of Canada’s great indigenous artists, took inspiration from Group of Seven artist Tom Thomson. Kinsella also notes that Emily Carr, who was declared by Group of Seven member Lawren Harris as a member of the group, had “painted astonishingly beautiful scenes of West Coast Indigenous life,” and that her works “have been showcased alongside that of the other greatest Canadian Indigenous artist, Haida Bill Reid.”

Given today’s growing ant-Christian sentiment, one wonders if the Group of Seven would have been further targeted because some of their members promoted Christianity. Unfortunately, in our modern times impacted by cultural Marxism, in some circles Christianity is denounced as the religion of the oppressor.

In this light, in today’s world would the Group of Seven artists be similarly denounced for helping beautify St. Anne’s Church?

It’s important that our institutions get the support they need, and our heritage be upheld.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.