Sampson-Matthews

Sampson-Matthews Limited was a Canadian graphic art and colour printing company based in Toronto, Ontario. It is remembered chiefly for the Sampson-Matthews Collection, a landmark public art program launched in 1942 in which the firm reproduced paintings by leading Canadian artists as oil silkscreens. The project was carried out at the request of the Government of Canada and in collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada, under the guidance and supervision of Group of Seven members A.J. Casson and A.Y. Jackson. The silkscreens were originally produced for Canadian troops serving abroad during World War II, who used them to decorate barracks, ships, hospitals and mess halls, to boost morale, and to remind them of their homeland. At the same time and in the decades after the war, the works were also hung in schools, libraries, banks, government offices, embassies, consulates and corporate offices throughout Canada and abroad. The program lasted 21 years and is described as the largest public art program in Canadian history. In its 1944–45 annual report, the National Gallery of Canada noted that the silkscreens were to be found in almost every quarter of the Allied world, and The Globe and Mail called the program one of the most interesting and successful cultural projects ever undertaken in Canada. Today the Sampson-Matthews silkscreens are recognized for their defining contribution to the way Canadians view their nation. They reinforced the Group of Seven's central role in the history of Canadian art and popularized landscape imagery as the primary Canadian visual motif. Original silkscreens produced between 1943 and 1957 under A.J. Casson's supervision are collected and sold as the Sampson-Matthews Collection, with individual works such as Lawren Harris's "Algoma Country" (1947), J.E.H. MacDonald's "Mist Fantasy" (1943) and Arthur Lismer's "Isles of Spruce" (1943) offered at prices in the thousands of dollars. The company itself is no longer active, but its artistic legacy endures through the collection and the ongoing market for its prints.

Sampson-Matthews Limited was a Canadian graphic art company based in Toronto, Ontario, and described as Canada's leading colour printing production firm in the mid-twentieth century. Its most significant undertaking began in 1942, when, at the request of the Government of Canada and in collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada, the firm launched a silkscreen reproduction program under the guidance and supervision of Group of Seven members A.J. Casson and A.Y. Jackson. The program brought together many of the most renowned Canadian artists of the day. Their best and most inspirational works were selected and meticulously reproduced as oil silkscreens. The primary purpose was to support the war effort: the prints were sent to Canadian troops abroad, who used them to decorate barracks, ships, hospitals and mess halls, to boost morale, and to remind them of their homeland and what they were fighting for. At the same time, and continuing through the decades after the war, the silkscreens were also hung in schools, libraries, banks, government offices, embassies, consulates and corporate offices throughout Canada and abroad. The project lasted 21 years, making it the largest public art program in Canadian history. In its annual report of 1944–45, the National Gallery of Canada advised that the silkscreens "are to be found in almost every quarter of the Allied World," adding that it was difficult to overemphasize the value of this publicity for Canada. The Globe and Mail called the program "one of the most interesting and successful cultural projects ever undertaken" in Canada. All of the works in the Sampson-Matthews Collection are original silkscreens produced between 1943 and 1957 under the supervision of A.J. Casson. Today they are widely recognized for their defining contribution to the way Canadians view their nation. They reinforced the Group of Seven's central role in the history of Canadian art and popularized the imagery of landscape as the primary Canadian visual motif. The company itself is no longer active, but the collection and the market for its prints continue to carry its legacy.

• 1957

  The last dated silkscreens in the collection are produced under A.J. Casson's supervision.

• 1947

  Lawren Harris's "Algoma Country" is produced as an oil silkscreen on board.

• 1944

  The National Gallery of Canada's 1944–45 annual report notes the silkscreens are found in almost every quarter of the Allied world.

• 1943

  Earliest dated silkscreens in the collection are produced, including J.E.H. MacDonald's "Mist Fantasy" and Arthur Lismer's "Isles of Spruce".

• 1942

  Sampson-Matthews Limited launches its silkscreen art program at the request of the Government of Canada and in collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada.

• The silkscreen project ends after 21 years, described as the largest public art program in Canadian history.

Canada's leading colour printing production firm in the mid-twentieth century, and creator of the largest public art program in Canadian history.

• Algoma Country by Lawren Harris (oil silkscreen on board, 1947)

• Mist Fantasy by J.E.H. MacDonald (oil silkscreen on board, 1943)

• Isles of Spruce by Arthur Lismer (oil silkscreen on board, 1943)

1. 1Sampson-Matthews Collectionsampson-matthews.com
2. 2HISTORY – Sampson-Matthews Collectionsampson-matthews.com
3. 3Sampson-Matthews Ltd. – Wikidatawikidata.org