Alfred Joseph Casson
(1898 - 1992) Group of Seven, PRCA, OSA, CSPW

A.J. Casson Biography
(1898 - 1992) Group of Seven, PRCA, OSA, CSPW

Born in Toronto, Ontario, he started art studies at Ryerson School and later under John S. Gordon at the Hamilton Technical School when his family moved to Hamilton. His family moved back to Toronto in 1916 and he worked free lance and studied evenings at the Ontario College of Art, the Toronto Central Technical School under Alfred Howell, and classes under Harry Britton who first taught him watercolour techniques and introduced him to oil painting.

When the young A.J. Casson first took a position as design assistant to Franklin Carmichael at the firm of Rous and Mann, he could not have known the remarkable direction his career would take. The demanding but affable Carmichael became a friend, mentor and sketching companion. In fact, it was Carmichael who introduced Alfred Casson to members of the Group of Seven at Toronto’s Arts and Letters Club. The dedicated artist began to exhibit with the Group and became a natural successor to Frank Johnston when he left to pursue other interests.

He exhibited for the first time with the Ontario Society of Artists in 1921, and in 1923 his canvas “Clearing” was purchased by the National Gallery of Canada. Casson , Carmichael and F. H. Brigden formed the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour in 1925 “to encourage and foster the art of watercolour in Canada.” F. B. Housser wrote in the Year Book of Arts in Canada “Carmichael and Casson are painting in watercolours … giving to Canadian landscape a statement in watercolour as bold and untraditional as that which some of their associates have given it in oils.”

Most of Casson’s large canvases were done between 1926 and 1930 when he found his subject matter in the Haliburton Region and Lake Superior areas. It was about 1924 that Casson became interested in the Ontario village. He made many pencilled sketches of structural details which became a valuable reference for his larger studies in oils like “Anglican Church at Magnetawan” completed in 1933 and purchased by the National Gallery of Canada in 1936. In his depiction of the more settled areas of southern Ontario, A.J. Casson was deliberately seeking out subject matter that set his work apart from the preferred material of other Group of Seven members. Alfred Casson’s strong design background shaped a unique painting style, characterized by graceful lines and carefully considered compositions. With the passing of time his style underwent a subtle change in which pattern became an essential element in his work.

In addition to his dedication to excellence in his own work, A.J. Casson was instrumental in the formation of important Canadian art organizations such as the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, the Canadian Group of Painters and the WWII War Artists Program. Vice President and Art Director for Sampson-Matthews Ltd. for almost 20 years, he was responsible for the technical development of programs in connection with reproduction of artists’ works carried out by the National Gallery of Canada, Canadian Pulp and Paper Association and Sampson-Matthews Limited. He did heraldic work which was reproduced by Sampson-Matthews Ltd. including armorial bearings of Canada and a series of landscapes.

There can be no doubt that over a long career, which spanned much of the twentieth century, Alfred Joseph Casson left an indelible mark on the Canadian art landscape.

Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume I: A-F", compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1977

1898   Alfred Joseph Casson born in Toronto
1912   Studies at Hamilton Technical School under John S. Gordon
1913   Apprenticeship at the Laidlaw Lithography Company in Hamilton, Ont.
1914   Apprenticeship at Commercial Engravers Company
1915   Freelance designer
1915-1917   Studies at Toronto Central Technical College under Alfred Howell
1918-1921   Studies at the Ontario College of Art under J.W. Beatty
1919-1926   Assistant Designer to Franklin Carmichael at the design firm of Rous and Mann Ltd. 
1920   Carmichael introduces Casson to Group of Seven members at Toronto’s Arts and Letters Club
1921   Exhibits for the first time with the Ontario Society of Artists;  accompanies Carmichael on an extended painting trip to Rosseau Lake in the Muskoka district
1922   Exhibits for the first time with the Group of Seven
1923   “Clearing”, is purchased by the National Gallery of Canada; becomes a member of the Ontario Society of Artists
1925   Founding member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour together with Franklin Carmichael and F.H. Brigden
1926   Becomes a member of the Group of Seven upon the departure of Frank Johnston;  accompanies Franklin Carmichael to the design firm of Sampson-Matthews;  becomes an associate member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts;  buys a car and begins to explore the small villages and hamlets of Southern Ontario
1926-1930   Sketches in the regions of Haliburton and Lake Superior
1928   Sketching trip to Lake Superior with A.Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris and Franklin Carmichael
1933   Co-founds the Canadian Group of Painters after the dissolution of the Group of Seven, following the death of J.E.H. MacDonald
1936   Anglican Church at Magnetawan is purchased by the National Gallery of Canada
1939   Becomes a full member of the RCA
1939-1945  Appointed as a member of Canada’s War Records Committee;  helps to establish the WWII War Artists Program
1940   Elected President of the Ontario Society of Artists
1942   Appointed Art Director of Sampson-Matthews
1946   Appointed Vice-President of Sampson-Matthews
1949   Publishes “The Possibilities of Silk Screen Reproduction” in Canadian Art magazine
1948   Elected President of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts;  receives the Province of Ontario Award
1954   Awarded the Gold Medal for Excellence in Canadian Advertising
1955-1959   Appointed Vice-President of the Art Gallery of Ontario
1957   Retires from Sampson-Matthews in order to pursue painting on a full-time basis;  awarded Gold Medal from the University of Alberta
1967   Awarded Canada’s Silver Centennial Medal
1970   Awarded the Royal Canadian Academy Medal; conferred with an Honourary LL.D. from the University of Western Ontario
1971   Conferred with an Honourary Degree from the University of Saskatchewan
1973   Becomes a Fellow of the Ontario College of Art; awarded the City of Toronto Award of Merit for distinguished public service
1975   Conferred with an Honourary LL.D. from the University of Toronto
1977   Awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
1979   Awarded the Order of Canada
1980   Conferred with an D.F.A. from Mount Allison University
1982   Conferred with an Honourary LL.D. from McMaster University
1991   Awarded the Order of Ontario
1992   Dies in Toronto at the age of 93