Origins of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts

Art in Canada in the Nineteenth Century was still firmly rooted in Europe. As cities grew, artists became an integral part of the cultural and economic fabric. Artististic creativity, however, was largely directed by the requirements of wealthy and influential patrons. Artists filled the demand for decorative paintings of "Europeanesque" landscapes as well as portraiture. The best asset of the serious professional artist was training in Paris or London or other great European centre.

As portraiture was such an important part of the artist’s livelihood, the advent of photography had a seriously detrimental effect on the ability of many an artist to earn a living. Artists no longer had the "image" market cornered and many felt the pinch. This was an important factor which led to the creation of artist’s societies in Canada’s big centres. In the face of competition from the photographer’s studio, there was a need for artists to actively promote their work. Artist societies were able to champion the interests of artists by providing them with regular opportunities for exhibition and sale. They brought the art and the buying public together. The exhibition setting also had the effect of the positioning "paintings" as precious and valuable objects, as compared with photography as images for the masses.

One of the very first artist organizations to come into being was the Art Association of Montreal, established in 1860. As artist societies became an important place for artists to come together and share ideas, another effect was to generate of pride of association and develop artistic identity. Artists at that time, however, still preferred to exhibit landscapes depicting scenes of England and the Continent, over "home grown" Canadian content. It was still not easy to make a living as an artist in Canada. In his speech at the opening exhibition of the Ontario Society of Artists in 1873, the president berated the public for not supporting the artistic talent in their midst. He decried the fact that any artists were forced to go abroad to sell their work. The "guilt trip" seemed to have the desired effect, as the opening night of the OSA’s debut exhibition was very successful, netting artists $3,935 in sales.

The Ontario Society of Artists was the first "Post Confederation" art organization, established in 1873. Among its founding members were T. Mower Martin, Marmaduke Matthews, J.W. Brigden and Robert Ford Gagen. The highest rank an OSA artist could hold in the organization was that of vice president. The position of president was reserved for important art patrons, who were well-placed to promote the work.

The OSA enjoyed the patronage of Lord Dufferin, Governor General of Canada, who attended sketching evenings at the club. When his term ended in 1878, OSA vice president, Lucius O’Brien approached the newly appointed Governor General, the Marquis of Lorne, with the hope that he would continue the Vice Regal sponsorship. The Marquis of Lorne and his wife, Princess Louise (daughter to Queen Victoria) had arrived in Canada, keen to encourage the growth of Canadian cultural and intellectual life. The Princess was a painter herself, and art was high on their list of priorities. The Marquis had a vision of recreating iconic British cultural organizations in the new Dominion. It was his wish to establish a grand art academy of "meritorious painters, sculptors and architects", modeled on London’s Royal Academy. The Marquis suggested to O’Brien that such an organization could be the foundation of a National gallery and hold annual exhibitions in Ottawa as well as other major cities.

The initial proposal to establish the RCA was the source of considerable indignation among the OSA membership. The Canadian Academy of the Arts held its first exhibition a mere 13 months after the Marquis of Lorne’s first proposal. The adjective "Royal" was added in 1880 by command of Queen Victoria. The original 26 charter members included 14 from the OSA as well as 4 from Montreal. Each member was required to donate a diploma work to the new National Gallery of Canada, thus creating the foundation of its collection. This continued to be an RCA policy until quite recently.

It was an RCA directive, as well, to establish art schools for the "advancement of painting and improvement of design". Each Academician pledged to volunteer free time for the instruction of young art students. The Academy would also cooperate in the operation of art classes in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. An unexpected result of the publicity surrounding the establishment of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was the overall effect of increasing enrollment in other excellent art institutions, including the OSA sanctioned art school at Toronto which later became the Ontario College of Art. The RCA exhibition in Halifax in 1881 was a catalyst, as well, for the creation of a new art institute, the "Victoria School of Art and Design", in that city. Many of these institutions are still vibrant today.

Lucius O’Brien was appointed the first president by Governor General Lorne. He had been trained at Upper Canada College, where he learned land surveying and drafting. As an artist, he was self-taught and did not pursue painting full-time until he was forty. His tact helped him to smooth out ruffled feathers at the OSA while his upper middle-class roots made him the right man to liaison with the influential people of the day, as head of the RCA. He was among the first to promote a pride of Nationhood among artists and the public by commissioning artists to paint Canadian landscape for his book, "Picturesque Canada". He was also one of the first artists to reveal the beauty of the Canadian Rockies as one of the artists who took advantage of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s offer to artists to travel on the Railway free of charge. This brought about the recognition of the unique qualities of the Canadian landscape which would eventually lead to a truly National art style in the Group of Seven and beyond.

The tradition of the RCA to tour exhibitions across the country also did much to create an awareness of National culture. The reach of the RCA gradually spread westward and the first exhibition west of Toronto took place in Winnipeg in 1912. Today Royal Canadian Academy artists are based coast to coast to coast. The RCA as an organization continues to be a valuable mechanism by which artists can help foster a sense of Canadian unity and promote the visual arts. They have provided decades of art education and exhibition opportunities for artists.

Bibliography

• Reid, Dennis. (1973) . A Concise History of Canadian Painting. Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press.
• Harper, Russell J. (1977). Painting in Canada: a History. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.
• Lord, Barry. (1974). The History of Painting in Canada: Toward a People’s Art. Toronto, ON: New Canada Publications.
• MacDonald, Colin S. (1979). A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, (Vol. 2). Ottawa, ON: Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd.