Canada's national culture has been shaped by prose, poetry and painting to varying degrees since the country's beginnings. The art movement in Canada underwent a significant transition throughout the country's development, moving from an agricultural society to the urbanized society we know today. Early periods view art very differently from those that followed, such as the Group of Seven. A particularly nationalist art movement suggests that their art represented a radical departure from earlier painting styles in Canada. This article will argue that the Group of Seven actually played a major role in its transition, in addition to the "Great White Hope", the myth of the North, which responded to the idealistic notion of Northern influence in art. Homer Watson's After the Rain and Arthur Lismer's A September Gale will also be used to help note the evolving style and dynamics of Canadian art. Artistic ideals in Canada are often difficult to combine into one concise understanding given how they have evolved. nature. The colonial era as well as the late 19th century were significantly shaped by pastoralism, a style that often depicted paintings of the countryside (Davis 36). Homer Watson's painting After the Rain in 1883 is a pastoral style that depicts "nature reaching its highest stage of picturesque beauty [which only occurs] when forests [have] been cleared, meadows or fields created or cultivated and farms established. » (36). After the Rain shows a farmer's field, where the land has been cleared of trees following what appears to be a major storm (38). Watson represents early Canada by emphasizing a secure and strangely comfortable agrarian society in a photographic-like work. Homer Watson believed in his... middle of paper ... representation of major national symbols” (Davis 41). It was only later that the expansion of artistic discipleship notably covered larger areas of Canadian life. territory in terms of social and cultural supports. The growth of art in Canada has played a central role in the development of Canadian culture. Individuals' ability to connect to their country is increasingly linked to artistic works and their representation of national ideals. Earlier plays such as Homer Watson's After the Rain represent an artistic sense of agrarian society, which later evolved into an increasingly modern perspective through the work of the Group of Seven. Arthur Lismer's work, A Band member September Gale represents a radical departure from previous panting styles and its representative ideals fuel a similar vision that the North portrays for Canada..