Arthur Heming: Chronicler of the North

This retrospective exhibition examines the career of celebrated artist, author and illustrator Arthur Heming (1870-1940). An avid northern explorer, his work helped to entrench perceptions of Canada as the "Great White North."

Many of Heming's paintings begin with naturalistic elements, which he exaggerated into wild, even surreal compositions intended to accentuate the "virtues" of Canada as a sort of snowy Eden, though one matter-of-factly described as full of hardship and death. This approach differed radically from that of his colleagues in the Group of Seven, who for decades set the very definition of Canadian art.

In his time Heming's exhibitions and books reached a large audience both in Canada and abroad. Although less well-known today, his work enjoys a large cult following, and he is remembered in the United States as an important member of a renowned artist colony at Old Lyme, Connecticut. This traveling exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehensive publication on Heming's life and work.

Curator's Commentary: Chronicler of the North by MuseumLondon