Frederick Horsman Varley 

F.H. Varley primarily painted figure and portrait paintings, which distinguished him from the other Group of Seven members.[1] He became acquainted with future members of the group, such as Arthur Lismer (1885 – 1969) and J.E.H MacDonald (1873 – 1932), during his time working as a graphic designer at Grip Ltd.[2] In the early 20th century, it was a common practice for universities across Canada to commission portraits for faculty members. They were usually presented as retirement gifts or on other special occasions and permanently became part of a university’s collection.[3]Varley was involved in this trend and painted several portraits for Queen’s University in Kingston and University of Toronto, and later the University of Alberta .[4] Only after moving to Vancouver in 1926 to teach at the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts did painting landscapes in oil or watercolour become his primary interest.[5] He became attracted to Asian philosophies such as Buddhism and Hinduism, and Chinese painting and colour symbolism as exemplified by the oil painting Red Mountain (c. 1928).[6]

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[1] Christopher Varley, “Frederick Horsman Varley,” in The Canadian Encyclopedia, March 4, 2015, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/frederick-horsman-varley.

[2] “F.H. Varley,” National Gallery of Canada, accessed March 28, 2024, https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artist/fh-varley.

[3] Katerina Atanassova, F.H. Varley Portraits into the Light = Mise En Lumière Des Portraits (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2007), 38.

[4] Atanassova, 39 – 41. 

[5] Atanassova, 79.

[6] Atanassova, 84.