The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson [antikvár]

áíta TURN-OFTHE'CENTURY TORONTO BRITISH IMMIGRANTS AT UNION STATION TORONTO During the early 1900s, Canada was a young country with a fast-growing population. Thousands of hopeful immigrants seeking prosperity were drawn to Canada by the federal government's offer of free land in the West. Although often unprepared for the severe climate and the rugged terrain, these new citizens struggled to clear and cultivate their homesteads, and many flourished along with the country. Canada was in the middle of a wheat boom in 1910, and the boost to the nation's economy led to a demand for tools, machinery, housing and building supplies. In turn, the mining and manufacturing industries began to thrive. Those not interested in working the land were drawn to large urban communities such as Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver by the promise of jobs in offices and factories. The cities were hubs of activity, serving as ports of entry for immigration and as centres for trade, commerce and transportation. By 1910, Toronto—the meeting place of the Group of Seven—was Canada's second largest city after Montreal. As the city sprawled into the countryside, gobbling up surrounding land for housing and industry, the people who travelled from homes to offices, factories and places of entertainment began to demand efficient transportation. In the downtown area, horses still delivered the daily necessities, such as bread, milk and mail, while private cars were used mainly by the rich. When electric streetcars at last provided mass transit, transportation itself became a booming business. Hundreds of jobs were created for streetcar drivers and for the workers required to put down and maintain the constantly expanding network of tracks. While much of Toronto could still be called "Muddy York," for its many unpaved streets, the centre of the city quickly became an electric web of communication and transportation cables. Electricity replaced coal and gas in homes and offices, furnishing inexpensive power and light, allowing businesses to extend their hours. Torontonians began to attend a variety of cultural and sports activities in their leisure time. Since the 1890s, movie houses had proved to be steady competition to the live theatres that featured melodramas and comedies imported from London and New York. Music, however, was taking root in native soil, with the formation of the Mendelssohn Choir and what would later be known as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. In summer, enthusiastic spectators filled the stadiums to watch baseball, while in winter, even greater numbers crowded hockey arenas to enjoy Canada's favourite sport. The city where one of the country's most important groups of painters was about to gather was waking up to the 20th century.