An avid outdoorsman, A.Y. Jackson painted “Red Maple” to reveal Canada’s hidden treasures of delicate, flame-bright foliage and rolling rapids. This landscape was painted in Jackson’s studio in 1914, based on a sketch of the Oxtongue River in Algonquin Park. The work is representative of Jackson’s (1882 – 1974) membership in the Group of Seven artists, who broke the misconception that the Canadian wilderness was too rugged and untamed to be painted. Symbolic of Canada’s natural appeal, this piece embraced emerging nationalist sentiments, which were intensified by the outbreak of World War I several months before it was created.

© Art.com