Frederick Varley

Frederick Horsman Varley (Known as "Fred Varley")

Group of Seven Master Portraitist, Official WWI War Artist

Born Jan 02, 1881

Sheffield (Yorkshire), Great Britain

Passed Away Sep 08, 1969 Toronto, Canada

Lifespan 88 years old

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"The artist's duty is to paint not only what the eye sees, but what the soul feels."

Archival Overview

The master portraitist of the Group of Seven whose haunting WWI battlefield paintings, notably For What?, and masterpiece Stormy Weather, Georgian Bay, captured the emotional depths of the human spirit.

Biographical Record

A boyhood friend of Arthur Lismer in Sheffield, Varley immigrated to Ontario in 1912. Commissioned as an official Canadian war artist in 1918, his harrowing canvas For What?—depicting a cart loaded with corpses in a muddy crater—stands as one of the most powerful anti-war paintings in history.

A co-founder of the Group of Seven, Varley was unique in prioritizing portraiture and the spiritual aura of human faces. Moving to Vancouver in 1926, he taught at the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts, painting radiant, mystical landscapes of Lynn Valley.

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Rest in Peace Forever remembered and cherished Your legacy lives on in all of us With deep gratitude for your life and light

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial

McMichael Canadian Art Collection Grounds
Kleinburg (Vaughan, Ontario), Canada

                         GPS: 43.8333, -79.6167                    

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