Lawren Harris (1885-1970) was born in BrantfordOntario into a wealthy family on October 23 1885. He was the first born of two sons. Lawren went to school at St. Andrews College in Toronto, and then at age 19 studied in Berlin. Soon after meeting and becoming friends with J. E. H. MacDonald in 1911, they together formed the Group of Seven. In 1913, he financed the construction of a Studio building in Toronto with friend Dr. James MacCallum. The Studio provided artists with cheap or free space where they could live and work. 

Later in 1918 and 1919, Lawren with J. E. H. MacDonald financed boxcar trips for artists to the Algoma region. Another painting trip after Algoma was to Lake Superior North Shore with A.Y. Jackson. Harris was so passionate about the monumental North shore and fascinated by the theosophical concept of nature, he returned annually for the next seven years. There he developed the style he is best known for. Harriss paintings in the early 1920s were characterized by rich, decorative colors that were applied thick, in painterly impasto. He painted landscapes around Toronto, Georgian Bay and Algoma. Lawrens first trip to the Rockies in 1924 soon became annual too for the next three years. In 1930, Harriss landscape paintings became simplified as he sailed with A.Y. Jackson aboard a supply ship. Lawren Harris died in Vancouver in 1970 as a well-known artist. To Harris art was a realm of life between our mundane world and the world of the spirit.