2013 - 1 oz Fine Silver Coin $20 - Lawren S. Harris, Toronto Street Winter Morning

Lawren Stewart Harris was born in Brantford, Ontario, on October 23, 1885. Born into a wealthy family—his family co-owned the important farm equipment company, Massey-Harris—Harris was able to devote his life to art. This freedom allowed him not only to become a leading landscape artist and key founder of the Group of Seven, but a major supporter of other important Canadian artists.

When he was 19 years old, Harris moved to Germany to study art. For Harris, the particularities of Canada's many landscapes became the conduits for the expression of universal truths and his paintings evolved from Impressionist landscapes to geometric abstractions in the 1930s. Regardless of the forms his art adopted, the relationship between the physical and the spiritual remained a key concern over the course of his career. In 1940, after six years in New Hampshire and New Mexico, Harris settled in Vancouver, where he remained until his death in January 1970. Harris was a Companion of the Order of Canada and recipient of several honorary degrees from Canadian universities. He is widely recognized as one of the most important figures in modern Canadian art.

Specifications
Mintage 7000
Composition fine silver (99.99% pure)
Finish proof
Weight (g) 31.39
Diameter (mm)38
Edge serrated
Certificate serialized
Face value 20 dollars
Artist RCM engravers reproduced the painting Toronto Street, Winter Morning by Lawren S. Harris (1921) painting by F.H.Varley (reverse), Susanna Blunt (obverse)