William Brymner

William Brymner (1855-1925) is distinguished in the history of Canadian art as a painter of great talent and an influential teacher, who inspired many of Canada's best-known modern artists. As one of the first Canadian artists to study abroad and then as the director of the Art Association of Montreal art school from 1886 to 1921, his openness to new movements informed both his painting and his pedagogy. As an artist, Brymner pushed against his academic training by exploiting light effects, lively colour and open space, particularly in his landscapes. This lavishly illustrated publication features one of the most important public collections as well as one of most important private collections of Brymner's work, that of Power Corporation of Canada. Four scholarly essays present a fresh look at a creative, social, and intellectual milieu in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that, in several ways, had Brymner at its core.