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Marilyn J. Mckay's Picturing the Land: Narrating Territories in Canadian Landscape Art was recently reviewed in Atlantic Books Today:
"From the sixteenth century explorers to the Group of Seven and beyond, Marilyn Mckay, examines how the territory we call Canada has been represented by landscape artists. She approaches her topic with a postmodern critical perspective, offering a social history of the form.
"Focusing on "images of land produced within French and English Canadian cultures," McKay organizes her survey in both a chronological and a thematic order. The evolution of Canadian landscape representation, in her argument, moves through four basic modes: nomadic, Arcadian, Edenic and sedentary.
"The nomadic, for example, includes "art maps" produced by European explorers, such as Samuel de Champlain. Along with geographical and political boundaries, these documents featured scenes of Native people, flora and fauna and settlements.
"A particularly intriguing example is Herman Moll's New and Exact Map of the Dominions of the King of Great Britain on ye Continent of North America, asserting the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, which gave control of Nova Scotia to the English.
"McKay's first seven chapters move steadily through descriptions of political and social conditions, presenting a range of images and relatively little biographical material. her discussion shifts back and forth between English and French artists, and makes convincing arguments as to why certain trends ermeged and faded.
"When she reaches Tom Thompson and the Group of Seven, the book's pace slows as McKay provides details of the group's development and the critical response to their work.
"Given the dominance of these eight artists within Canadian landscape art, it is appropriate that McKay dedicates so much space to her discussion of their work. She contextualizes the iconic images – they did not spring from thin air, nor are they the pinnacle of achievement, but are simply annother phase in a centuries-long process.
"McKaytackles her subject with the rigour of a scholar, providing twenty-nine pages of notes. At the same time, she presents an engaging treatment of Canadian history through the eyes of landscape artists."
– Joanne Jefferson
To learn more about Picturing the Landscape, or to order online, click here.
To arrange an interview with Marilyn McKay, contact –
Jacqui Davis, MQUP Publicist jacqueline.davis@mcgill.ca
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