The Jerusalem Windows by Marc Chagall

The Jerusalem Windows by Marc Chagall

Nearly a century ago, a group of artists travelled into the bush beyond Canada's towns and villages to capture a raw, terrible beauty. Armed with sketchbooks, brushes, and paints, they set off into the heart of the wilderness to reinterpret the landscape in a modern way.

In July of 1977, Jim and Sue Waddington began their own voyage of discovery. Determined to locate, document, and photograph the actual landscapes that inspired and influenced the brushes of A.Y. Jackson, Franklin Carmichael, Arthur Lismer, Lawren Harris, A.J. Casson, J.E.H. MacDonald, Tom Thomson, and Frederick Varley, the Waddingtons embarked on a 36-year expedition that saw them trek from one end of the country to the other and back again. The result is>In the Footsteps of the Group of Seven, an ambitious book that stretches from the northern reaches of Ontario to Beechey Island in the Arctic, from Nova Scotia to the Alaska Highway. Travelling into thick forests, across bleak tundra, and along ancient canoe routes to visit the sites where some of Canada's defining paintings were conceived, the Waddingtons bring us face to face with the landscapes that enlightened and enriched this renowned group of artists.

Featuring more than 175 photographs, archival images, and reproductions of the original works of art, In the Footsteps of the Group of Seven -- part travel guide, part itinerant art exhibition, part memoir -- is a stunning tribute to the artistic muse.