As popular as Watson's work was, its time in the forefront of Canadian art was limited because of the development of a new artistic movement which consciously set itself in opposition to Watson's pastoralism. By the 1920s, a general reorientation of Canadian painting was underway, led by the Group of Seven, perhaps the best-recognized painters in Canadian history. The Group of Seven argued strongly against pastoralism, claiming it was not a truly Canadian artistic style because it derived from European painting styles. In particular, they argued that this style of painting was too sedate and refined to be truly Canadian. For them, the rugged nature of the Canadian landscape required a bolder, more vigorous painting style and a heightened use of colour. Canada was a vibrant, rough country of vast expanses which needed to be presented in a style which conveyed this image.

The Group of Seven came together in Toronto in the 1910s and initially included: Lawren Harris, Arthur Lismer, A.Y. Jackson, J.E.H. MacDonald, Frank Johnston, F.H. Varley, and Frank Carmichael. The paintings of their close friend Tom Thomson, who died before the Group of Seven was formed, were also frequently included in their exhibitions. The members of the Group of Seven were all professional artists, some born in Canada others in England, who met each other through friends or work. Through conversations, shared sketching trips, and evening meetings at local art clubs, they discovered that they shared a similar dissatisfaction with the state of Canadian art. Individually and collectively, the artists who were to make up the Group of Seven were searching for a new way of painting -- a way of painting which would allow them to express what they believed were the distinctive attributes of Canada. By the late 1910s, their ideas had progressed to the point where they found themselves drawn to exhibit together. In 1920, they held their first exhibition as the Group of Seven.

This exhibition was neither a stirring success nor a complete failure. Some art critics didn't like the paintings -- which were distinctly different than the pastoral style to which most Canadians were accustomed, but others were impressed with the Group's efforts. Later studies of the Group of Seven have tended to emphasize the harshness with which critics and the public first treated the new art, but it is also clear that the Group quickly made important and powerful allies who supported their conception of a truly Canadian art. Perhaps their most important ally was Eric Brown, director the National Gallery of Canada (NGC). Brown arranged for the NGC to purchase the Group's paintings and included their art in international exhibitions which he organized. In fact, by 1925 the Group of Seven so much dominated the Canadian contribution to one international exhibition (because Brown made the selections) that other artists complained that they were being neglected by the NGC. Other important avenues of support came from wealthy patrons, the government of Ontario, art schools (which hired some of the members of the Group of Seven), and from important public figures and nationalists, such as Marius Barbeau, a prominent anthropologist and intellectual.

Although the members of the Group of Seven painted more than landscapes and while each member had his own distinctive style, there were some common themes to their art. Arthur Lismer's A September Gale is generally representative of the Group's style of painting. Along with Tom Thomson's painting The Jack Pine and J.E.H. MacDonald's The Solemn Land, it might be the best- known painting from this era in Canadian art.

A September Gale was painted in 1921, just as the Group of Seven was beginning to gain popularity. Simply by looking at this painting, it is immediately evident it's very different from Watson's After the Rain. Where After the Rain depicts a farmer's field, largely cleared of trees, following a storm, Lismer's painting appears to depict a storm gathering force over a rough landscape. The landscape shown in A September Gale is much closer to the ideal of an untamed wilderness than the landscapes painted by Watson. In Lismer's painting we see a tree bent against the wind, rough waves, and an ominous sky. Rocks jut into the painting in irregular shapes and the use of colour is indeed bolder and more vibrant than in Watson's paintings.

Stylistically, this painting is not a photograph-like illustration of the countryside. All art is to some degree interpretive because the artist selects what to portray, but Lismer's painting involves more than just the selection of a particular scene. Lismer's style of painting might be called interpretive realism because the artist has taken a real subject -- in this case a rugged landscape -- but has emphasized or exaggerated certain qualities he considers of key importance. The colour, for example, in this painting is not realistic, nor is it intended to be. This landscape is rough, bold, and awesome. The way in which Lismer has painted A September Gale is intended to emphasize these qualities with the use of bold colours and unrefined brush strokes, a dramatic departure from the style of Watson. This is the image of Canada that Lismer and the other members of the Group of Seven sought to present. Lismer presents nature as a powerful force which people cannot easily refine, control, or improve. Instead, nature appears more as an elemental force shaping both the physical environment (the rocks and plants, etc.) and the people. Where Watson depicted pastoral scenes, Lismer has presented nature as a powerful force shaping the character of the country. These same ideas were evident in other works by other members of the Group of Seven.

It would be difficult to underestimate the significance of the Group of Seven in Canadian art. In their day, they dominated the Canadian art scene and even today, most Canadians readily recognize their art. For many people, both in the 1920s and today, the art of the Group of Seven is Canadian art.

Yet, the Group of Seven did not exist for very long and even during its existence it underwent significant changes. F.H. Varley left to pursue his own interests in 1926. He was replaced by A.J. Casson, a water colour specialist. And, in the early 1930s, two other artists, Edwin Holgate and L.L. FitzGerald, joined the Group, bringing its active membership to nine. Nor was the Group of Seven ever really a unified group or "school" of Canadian painting. Its members were friends and colleagues who shared an artistic vision of Canada, but they also pursued their own ideas as well. Varley, for instance, was more interested in painting human figures and Lawren Harris's art (even if he did not leave the Group of Seven) became progressively more abstract. His landscapes from the 1920s have a more mystical quality than the paintings created by the other members of the Group of Seven as in Above Lake Superior. By the 1930s he was painting geometric and abstract works like Equations in Space. In 1933, the Group of Seven was formally dissolved and replaced by the larger Canadian Group of Painters. The Group of Seven had made its mark. Its dissolution indicated that Canadian art was about to move in a very different direction.