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CM . . .
. Volume X Number 13 . . . . February 27, 2004
Paintings, at their best, are evocative. They concretize not only the painter's subject matter but also his or her emotions. Good painters capture the values of an era. The best painters symbolize a nation's values for all time. The works of Group of Seven member Lawren Harris capture the values and feelings of what it is to be Canadian through his bold brush strokes and canny renderings of light in his urban and northern landscapes. In Joan Murray's Lawren Harris, the reader is blessed with the luxury of large, full coloured and detailed reproductions of the artist's works that reveal the breaks and dabs of the artist's brush strokes. The quality of the reproductions enable the reader both to view the painter's technique as well as to feel the atmosphere reproduced in the paintings. Harris's 1913 impressionist Hurdy Gurdy, for example, depicts a relaxed, sparkling, bright autumn street scene rendered with dappled light and citrus yellow falling leaves. A reader can contrast that painting with Harris' 1930 Lighthouse, Father Point in which the cool moody blues and stark, nearly abstract, lines of a lighthouse and the lighthouse keeper's home become symbols of fortitude and isolation. Thus the paintings become a teacher's aide as does the text of the book. Murray's text, in clear prose, succinctly describes Harris's life and development as a painter in three chapters. In these chapters, the reader gains a basic understanding of the social, economic, spiritual, cultural and familial forces Harris experienced:
Lawren Harris would be helpful as an adjunct text in a geography, social studies, history, or arts course. Due to the detail, number of historical figures mentioned and abstract concepts described in the text, the book would be best understood and appreciated by mature students:
Murray's book is very reader friendly, and the layout of the text is simple and easy to read. The columns in the two column format may be long, but the leading between each line, in addition to the wide margins around each page, make the otherwise dense text less formidable. The coloured reproductions of the paintings are also bordered by wide margins which set off the colours. At the back of the book, a four and a half page chronology of Harris's life is given that includes times, seasons, places, and people Harris experienced. Also of interest is Murray's inclusion of the books Harris was reading during a particular period. This enables a student to both appreciate Harris's influences and to read the books themselves. Following this section is a page of suggested readings. It would have been helpful if books that explored Canadian society and history of Harris's era were included in this list. That section is followed by a list of the paintings reproduced in the book and then the book's index which could have included more detail. This book is highly recommended because of the quality of the writing and reproductions. Highly Recommended. Located in Toronto, ON, J. Lynn Fraser is a freelance writer and editor whose magazine articles appear in international publications.
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