A.J. Casson-Art | Universal Picture Framing & Sports Memorabilia

Group of Seven - A.J. Casson 1898 - 1992

Alfred was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1898 to an English Qyaker father and a Canadian mother. At age 9 he moved to Guelph and to Hamilton at age 14. He left school early at age 15 to work as an apprentice at a Hamilton lithography company. At the same time, he studied art at Central Technical School. Cason left Hamilton at age 17 and moved to Toronto. The first public exhibition of his work was at the Canadian National Exhibitioin, in 1917. He was hired by the commercial art firm Rous and Mann.

At Rous and Mann, Alfred was influenced and apprenticed by Group of Seven member Franklin Carmichael to sketch and paint on his own. Carmichael introduced Casson to The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, where he met many well-known artists, including other Group of Seven Members

After Frank Johnston, a Group of Seven member, left the group in 1921, Casson seemed like an appropriate replacement. Later in 1926, he was invited by Carmichael to become a Group of Seven Mmember. Casson joined excitedly. He left Rous and Mann in 1927 and Sampson Matthews. He became their art director and later their vice-president.

A.J. Casson died in 1992 at age 94 and is buried on the grounds of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, along with six other Group of Seven members.