Alfred Joseph Casson

A.J Casson is best known for his depictions of landscapes, forests, and farms of southern Ontario through watercolor and oil paint.[1] Earlier in his life, after leaving the air force at the age of 21 in 1919, he landed a job at Rous & Mann, a Toronto-based graphic design & printing company, where he worked alongside Canadian artist Franklin Carmichael, who inspired him to create his own sketches and paintings.[2] During his time training at the company, he was taught his simplified, uncluttered approach to composition, the clean, clear colours which have become hallmarks of his artworks as seen in Prelude (1945).[3] However, this painting is still considered to be a departure from his usual approach as it is mainly comprised of abstract and geometric forms. 

 

--

Click here to read more about Casson's Prelude, 1945.

​

​

​

Notes: 

​

[1] “A. J. Casson,” The Group of Seven (blog), accessed March 28, 2024, https://thegroupofseven.ca/a-j-casson/.

[2] Margaret Blair Gray, A.J. Casson, (Agincourt, Ont. Gage, 1976), 5.

[3] Gray, 6.