Beaver Hall Hill Group

The Beaver Hall Group refers to a Montreal-based group of Canadian painters who met in the late 1910s while studying art at a school run by the Art Association of Montreal. The Group is notable for its equal inclusion of men and women artists, as well as for its embrace of Jazz Age modernism. They painted a variety of subjects, including portraits, landscapes, urban scenes and still lifes, in a mix of Modernist and traditional styles.

The ten female artists who are together known as the Beaver Hall Group were:

All ten of the group's participants had studied under William Brymner (1855–1925), a prominent Canadian artist who encouraged them to explore new modernistic approaches to painting. In an era when women artists were viewed as little more than hobbyists and were left out of the mainstream world of professional art, the Beaver Hall Group was the first Canadian artists association in which women played a central role.

The group was formally founded in May 1920, inaugurated through the efforts of Randolph Stanley Hewton, Edwin Holgate, Mabel May and Lilias Torrance Newton. The group's name derives from 305 Beaver Hall Hill, the location of the downtown Montreal studio where its members shared space. It counted among the founding members eleven men and eight women. In addition to Hewton, Holgate, May and Newton, original members included Mabel Lockerby, Anne Savage, and President of the group, A.Y. Jackson.

The first Beaver Hall exhibition took place January 17, 1921. In his opening speech, Jackson emphasized the right of the artist to paint what they feel "with utter disregard for what has hitherto been considered requisite to the acceptance of the work at the recognized art exhibitions in Canadian centres. 'Schools' and ‘isms’ do not trouble us," Jackson stressed, "individual expression is our chief concern". He identified its goals as being those of the Group of Seven, and over the years Jackson maintained the contact between Toronto and Montreal, supporting and stimulating the Montreal artists through regular visits and correspondence. He kept them informed of events in Toronto and arranged for their works to be included in the Group of Seven exhibitions. Both the Montreal Gazette and La Presse gave generous coverage to the vernissage.

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