Biographies > George Cassidy

TAG holds an important collection of George Cassidy’s work. Each of these paintings evokes a unique sense of atmosphere. One can feel the cold, hear the water, and smell the air. As a boy, George Cassidy had a strong interest in drawing, particularity in illustration. His first formal training was at the Ontario College of Education. There he did part-time commercial illustrations for Canadian Packers in the sales field. He came to north to Cobalt in 1932 to teach high school, where he fell in love with Northern Ontario. It drew him to pursue landscape painting and printing. The subject of much of his work is the Temiskaming landscape, painted in tempera and opaque watercolour. A great inspiration for his art was the opportunity to accompany A.Y. Jackson and friend, Dr. Banting of insulin fame on a painting excursion in 1934.

Cassidy was a high school teacher, an author, illustrator and chart maker. He served with the Algonquin Regiment during WWII. One of his two books, Warpath, is about the history of this regiment. The other, Arrow North, tells the history of the Temiskaming region. Much of his work is in private collections across Canada.