Group of Seven Framed Print - F.H. Varley - STORMY WEATHER, GEORGIAN BAY 1921

Available in-gallery, or for local pick-up only. This iconic Canadian painting hangs in the National Gallery of Canada, and is reproduced with copyright permission. Therefore the colours are true to the original. Professionally matted and framed with archival materials in a brownish black wooden frame.

Image size: 8 1/4" x 10 1/8". Framed size: 15 1/2" x 14"

The Artist: Like another member of the Group of Seven, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Horsman Varley (1881-1969) was born in Sheffield, England. He studied at the Sheffield School of Art and later, the Antwerp Academy, Belgium. He worked in London as an illustrator before returning to Yorkshire four years later. There he married and had two children. In 1912, Lismer persuaded Varley to come to Canada, where he found work at Grip, a graphic design firm in Toronto. There he met other artists with whom he would ultimately form of the Group of Seven. He also met Tom Thomson who was like him in spirit, unconventional and somewhat moody, but dedicated to their craft.

At first, Varley concentrated mainly on portraits and established himself as a painter of Toronto's elite society. When World War One broke out, he was sent to France as a Canadian War Artist. He returned from the war matured both as an artist and as an individual and his interest in painting the Canadian north was awakened. He began painting landscapes such as Stormy Weather, Georgian Bay. He is only one of two of the Group who painted portraits as well as the Canadian landscape.