The Eastern Group of Painters was a group of Canadian artists formed in 1938 in Montreal, Quebec for exhibition purposes and showing together as a group till 1950. It included Montreal artists whose common interest was painting and an art for art's sake aesthetic, not the espousal of a nationalist theory as was the case with the Group of Seven or the Canadian Group of Painters. The group's members included Alexander Bercovitch, Goodridge Roberts, Eric Goldberg, Jack Weldon Humphrey, John Goodwin Lyman, and Jori Smith. In 1939, Jack Humphrey was replaced by Philip Surrey and Bercovitch resigned in 1942.
The group showed their work first with W. Scott and Sons (1938),"The Eastern Group". Montreal Standard, Nov. 19, 1938 then at the Art Association of Montreal (1940),Robert Ayre, "Eastern Group Presents Array of New Works at Art Association". Montreal Standard, Jan. 27, 1940 the Dominion Gallery (which represented Goldberg and Lyman) (1945),"Eastern Group shows at Dominion Gallery". Montreal Gazette, Apr. 21, 1945 and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (1950).C. G. MacDonald, "Eastern Group art Displays Little New". Montreal Herald, Feb. 3, 1950
By the late 1930s, many Canadian artists began to resent the hegemony of Group of Seven. The Eastern Group of Painters was formed, as member John Lyman wrote, "to restore the "feel" of life, the savour of things" to Canadian art.John Lyman, "The Eastern Group of Painters". The Montrealer, Dec. 1, 1938. What concerned them was being simply painters, said the critic Robert Ayre.Robert Ayre, "The Eastern Group of Painters." Saturday Night, Dec. 17, 1938 who spoke elsewhere of their honesty of purpose.Robert Ayre, "Eastern Group" Show Modest, Authoritative". Montreal Standard, November 26, 1938 The group had a serious concern with the art of painting and took pleasure in familiar life as a jumping-off place, wrote the same critic.Robert Ayre, "Eastern Group Returns with A Rare Display of Strength". Montreal Star, Feb. 4 1950 It was an informal fellowship but the members had similarities of views on fundamentals such as an openness to European art. But by 1950 in a show at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the group, now considered a school, was seen to be "conservative with regard for tradition".Dick Hersey, Work of Eastern Group Colourful, Conservative, Montreal Standard, Jan. 28, 1950 It showed little that was new, said the Montreal Herald.
John Lyman's Contemporary Arts Society (1939–48) (in French, Société d'art contemporain) evolved from the Eastern Group of Painters.
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