'The Beaver Hall Group: 1920s Modernity' portrays the work of the Montreal-based group of Canadian painters, the Beaver Hall Group. This twentieth-century collective, founded in response to the all-male Group of Seven, was long overlooked by critics and historians alike, but today counts many of its members amongst the most sought-after Canadian painters.

Using the group as a starting point, the book launches into investigations into such wide-reaching topics as the metropolis and modernity, juxtapositions between economic progress and cultural development as social equality, and the role of gender in approaches to artists and their work.

Divided into three sections, 'The Beaver Hall Group: 1920s Modernity' comprises of several contextual essays, beginning with the history of Beaver Hall Hill and the influence of its location in the city of Montreal. The reader is then taken through the progress of the Beaver Hall Group and the central part they played within modernity in Canada. Through an examination of documented exhibitions, press coverage, photographs and key works from the period, the book gives a fascinating insight into the reach of the group by concentrating on 30 established artists including Mabel May, Barbara Meadowcroft, Emily Coonan and Kathleen Morris. This unique expose of the group is explored against the backdrop of Montreal's cultural scene in the 1920s, and how the collective crossed artistic disciplines, placing the group within a broader context of the arts. The Beaver Hall Group: 1920s Modernity is co-published with Montreal Museum of Fine Art, coinciding with a major exhibition at the museum. In partnership with Montreal Museum of Fine Art.

About the Authors
Jacques Des Rochers: Curator of Quebec and Canadian Art at Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Brian Foss is a writer, curator and Director of the School for Studies in Art and Culture at Carleton University. He chairs the Advisory Board of the Journal of Canadian Art History and is co-editor of RACAR: Revue d'art canadien / Canadian Art Review.

Kristina Huneault holds a Concordia University Research Chair in art history. She is a founder of the Canadian Women Artists History Initiative, and the 2010 recipient of the Marion Dewar Prize in Canadian Women's History.