Steve Martin gets serious about new Lawren Harris exhibit

Steve Martin first encountered the paintingsof LawrenHarris 25 years ago and it was love at first sight. But the actor-comedian-musicianquickly discovered that he wasn't alone in his love for the founding Groupof Sevenmember.

"I thought I discovered him," Martin confessed with a grin to The National's Wendy Mesley. "Then I realized Canada knows all about him. So I felt a little foolish."

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"I was in America, just kind of peering into Canada and Canada's heart."

Steve Martin: "I thought I'd discovered (Lawren Harris)."

8 years ago

Duration 0:43

Steve Martin admits he was behind the curve in discovering Canadian painter Lawren Harris.

That insight put Martin on a mission: to expose Americans to the iconic paintings of Harris.The result is the exhibit"The Idea of North," which he helped curate and orchestrate. The 30-painting exhibit has already had showings inLos Angeles and Boston. The exhibit opens on Canada Dayat the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto for a 10-week run.

It doesn't feel lonely or depressing. It feels exalting.- Steve Martin on the paintings of Lawren Harris

Martin may have built his celebrity in warm, sunny, Hollywood. But it's the cold andquiet of Harris's paintingsthat speakto him. "[The art]doesn't feel lonely or depressing. It feels exalting," he said.

Steve Martin: Lawren Harris "doesn't feel lonely"

8 years ago

Duration 0:47

Steve Martin compares the "isolation" of Lawren Harris paintings to American counterparts.

That, and the man likes icebergs.

"I've always been fascinated by the subject," Martin said before eyeing a cameraman hovering a little too close to a painting. "Be careful," he pleads, one of many times he pauses to fret that someone might topple backwards and puta hole in a belovedpainting.

One thing's for sure: Martin knows his art. A collector since the age of 20, Martin didn't dial in this exhibit. He travelled across Canada to view the pieces that have come to make up this exhibit. He once wrote to the late billionaire Ken Thomson, who offered Martin the chance to view his personal art collection as it sat in storage. Martin also paid a trip to a Saskatoon museum to view another Harris piece that was in itsbasement.

Capturing the idea of Canada

Those trips, plus time spent in Canada for movie shoots and to visitfriendMartin Short's homeon Ontario's Lake Rosseau,haveconvinced Martin that Harris captured the idea ofCanada perfectly.

"Oftentimes, a painter will paint a landscape and you think, that's not really what it looks like," said Martin. "He actually did paint it exactly like it is."

Martin's so serious in discussing Harris, thatyou'd barely guess he initially rose to fame as a comedian. Still, his quick wit and good timing dosurface when asked if the tall, erect contours of the paintingNorth Shore, Lake Superior might elicit less-than-esoteric interpretations.

"What?" he says his eyebrows rising in surprise at the question. "Well," he deadpans to Mesley. "Maybe that's just you."

Steve Martin, Wendy Mesley interpret Lawren Harris

8 years ago

Duration 0:35

Steve Martin talks about Lawren Harris painting "North Shore, Lake Superior"

One thing's for sure, this is a project that's near and dear to Martin's heart. Curating an exhibit isn't somethinghe woulddo again for another artist.

"They don't need me for that," he explains."But I felt like here is a full-blown artist ready to go and America has never heard of him. It's like, who else is there like that?"