Tom Thomson

For people with similar names, see Thomas Thomson (disambiguation) and Thomas Thompson (disambiguation).

Tom Thomson
Thomson, c. 1910-1917
Born	Thomas John Thomson (1877-08-05)August 5, 1877 Claremont, Ontario, Canada
Died	July 8, 1917(1917-07-08) (aged 39) Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada
Resting place	Leith United Church Cemetery, Grey County, Ontario, Canada 44°37′N 80°53′W
Nationality	Canadian
Education	Self-taught
Known for	Painting
Notable work	Northern River (1914-15) Spring Ice (1915-16) The Jack Pine (1916-17) The West Wind (1916-17)
Movement	Art Nouveau Arts and Crafts Group of Seven

Thomas John Thomson (August 5, 1877 – July 8, 1917) was a Canadian artist of the early 20th century. Over the course of his short career, he produced roughly 400 small oil sketches along with around fifty larger works on canvas. The smaller sketches he produced were painted on wood panels, and were usually made on location in Algonquin Park. They depict trees, skies, lakes, rivers, and other nature scenes, quickly made through bursts of artistic inspiration. His larger canvas works were produced slowly over the course of winters in his Toronto studio. His painting utilizes broad brush strokes and a liberal application of paint to capture the stark beauty and vibrant colour of the Ontario landscape. Thomson's accidental death by drowning in 1917 came just prior to the founding of the Group of Seven and was seen by his contemporaries as a tragedy of Canadian art.

Raised in rural Ontario, Thomson was born into a large family of farmers. He did not display any immediate artistic talent as a child with his interests instead tending towards nature following his removal from school for a year due to ill health. After working several jobs through family connections and attending a business college, he began to develop rudimentary penmanship abilities. In 1901 or 1902, he moved to Seattle to join his brother's business school, being hired at a photoengraving firm as a pen artist, draftsman and etcher. There he learned calligraphy, specializing in lettering, drawing and painting. Following a return to Toronto in 1905, he was hired at Grip Ltd., an artistic design firm specializing in design and lettering work. The firms senior artist, J. E. H. MacDonald, encouraged his staff to paint outside in their spare time to better hone their skills. While at Grip, Thomson would meet those who would eventually form the Group of Seven, including MacDonald, Lawren Harris, Frederick Varley, Franklin Carmichael and Arthur Lismer. In May 1912, Thomson visited Algonquin Park for the first time. It was there that he acquired his first sketching equipment and, following the advice of MacDonald, began to capture nature scenes. He became enraptured with the area and would consistently return, typically spending his winters in Toronto and the rest of the year in the Park. While his earliest paintings were not outstanding technically, they illustrated an above average ability regarding composition and colour handling. Through his development his later paintings vary in composition and have vivid colours and thickly applied paint. Thomson's later work has had a great influence on Canadian art—paintings such as The Jack Pine and The West Wind have taken a prominent place in the culture of Canada and are some of the country's most iconic pieces of art.

Thomson developed a reputation during his lifetime as a veritable outdoorsman, talented in both fishing and canoeing, though his talents in the latter have been contested. The tragic circumstances of Thomson's drowning on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park linked with his image as a master canoeist has resulted in his death entering into the popular imagination. The circumstances surrounding his death have been of particular interest to many, with unsubstantiated rumours that he was murdered or committed suicide becoming common and persisting in the years since his death.

Though he died before the formal establishment of the Group of Seven, Thomson is often considered an unofficial member with his art typically being exhibited with the rest of the Group's. Nearly all of Thomson's work is located in Canada, mainly at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg.

Life

Portrait of a young Tom Thomson, date unknown

Early years

Thomas John "Tom" Thomson was born on August 5, 1877 in Claremont, Ontario, Canada. He grew up in a large family, the sixth of John and Margaret Thomson's ten children. Thomson was raised in Leith, Ontario, near Owen Sound, in the Municipality of Meaford. Thomson and his siblings enjoyed both drawing and painting, though he did not immediately display any major talents. He was eventually taken out of school for a year due to ill health, sometimes said to a respiratory issue variously described as "weak lungs" or "inflammatory rheumatism." This gave him free time to explore the woods near his home and develop an appreciation for nature. The Thomson family were unsuccessful as farmers, with Thomson and his father often abandoning their chores to instead go hiking, hunting and fishing. Thomson would also regularly go on walks with Dr. William Brodie (1831-1909), his grandmother's first cousin (though the Thomson family referred to him simply as "uncle"). Brodie was a well known entomologist, ornithologist and botanist, and Thomson's sister Margaret would later recount that they collected specimens on long walks together. Thomson was also enthusiastic about sports, breaking his toe at one point while playing football. He was an excellent swimmer and fisherman, developing his passion for the latter from his grandfather and father. Like most of those in his community, he regularly attended church. Some stories say that he would sketch in the hymn books during services and would entertain his sisters with caricatures of their neighbours. His sisters would later say that they had fun "guessing who they were," indicating that he was not necessarily adept at capturing people's likeness.

All of Thomson's nine siblings received an inheritance from their paternal grandfather. Thomson would receive his in 1898 getting $2000 in total, though he seems to have spent it all relatively quickly. A year later, he entered a machine shop apprenticeship at an iron foundry owned by William Kennedy, a close friend of his father, but left only eight months later. Also in 1899, he volunteered to fight in the Second Boer War, but was turned down because of a medical condition. He would attempt to enlist for the Boer War three times total, but was denied each time.

In 1901, Thomson enrolled at Canada Business College in Chatham, Ontario. The school advertised instruction in stenography, bookkeeping, business correspondence and "plain and ornamental penmanship." There, he developed rudimentary penmanship abilities. After graduating at the end of 1901, he would travel briefly to Winnipeg before leaving for Seattle in January 1902, joining his older brother, George Thomson. George and cousin F. R. McLaren had established the Acme Business School in Seattle, listed as being the eleventh largest business school in the United States. Thomson worked briefly as an elevator operator at the Diller Hotel. By 1902, two more of Thomson's brothers, Ralph and Henry, had moved west to join the family's new school.

Graphic design work

Seattle (1901-1904)

Study of a Woman's Head, Seattle, c. 1904. Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound

After studying at the business school for six months total, Thomson was hired at Maring & Ladd as a pen artist, draftsman and etcher. He mainly produced business cards, brochures and posters, as well as three colour printing. Having previously learned calligraphy, he specialized in lettering, drawing and painting. Thomson was known to be stubborn while working at Maring and Ladd, with his brother Fraser Thomson writing that instead "of his doing the work according to the instructions given by Mr. Maring he would invariably work out the design to suit his own ideas which would make Mr. Maring angry..." Thomson may have also worked as a freelance commercial designer, but there are no extant examples of such work to confirm these suspicions. Thomson's younger brother Ralph would write about Thomson during this period:

[I had] a wonderful opportunity to observe his progress as a commercial artist and designer. He very often worked all night long while I watched him try one idea after another. The ones that did not meet with his approval he would either throw in the waste basket, burn up or smear with cigar ashes or the ends of burned matches. Others he would keep for a day or two but they would invariably meet the same fate. At that time he worked in pen and ink, water color and black and white wash. He was continually looking over the various magazines and giving the advertisements a great deal of study, principally from the standpoint of decoration. It was a regular game with him to pick the best of them, change the entire design to suit his own ideas, and then compare their respective merits.

He eventually moved on to a local engraving company. Despite the fact that he was being paid well, he left by the end of 1904, quickly returning to Leith. Thomson's quick move was possibly due to a rejected marriage proposal following his brief summer romance with Alice Elinor Lambert. Lambert never married and later became a writer. In one of her stories, she describes a young girl who refused a proposal from an artist and went on to regret her decision.

Toronto (1905-1912)

See also: Grip Ltd.

Thomson moved to Toronto in the summer of 1905. His first job upon his return was at the photo-engraving firm Legg Brothers, earning $11 a week. He spent his free time reading poetry, as well as going to concerts, the theatre and sporting events. In a letter to an aunt, he would write, "I love poetry best." Friends described him during this time as "periodically erratic and sensitive, with fits of unreasonable despondency."

Around this period, he may have briefly studied with William Cruikshank, a British artist who taught at the Ontario College of Art (today the Ontario College of Art and Design). Cruikshank was likely Thomson's only art instructor.

Profile of Thomson wearing a suit and hat, c. 1910. During this time, Thomson was known to dress well and spend his money on nice clothes and fine dining.

In 1908 or 1909, Thomson joined Grip Ltd., an artistic design firm in Toronto specializing in design and lettering work. Grip was the leading graphic design company in the country and would introduce Art Nouveau, metal engraving and the four-colour process to Canada. Albert Robson, then the art director at Grip, recalled that when he first hired Thomson, "his samples consisted mostly of lettering and decorative designs applied to booklet covers and some labels." He would write as well that Thomson made friends slowly, though he eventually found similar interests to his coworkers. Several of the employees at Grip had previously been a part of the Toronto Art Student's League, a group of newspaper artists, illustrators and commercial artists which ran from 1886 through 1904. The members of the group would sketch in parts of eastern Canada and would publish an annual calendar with illustrations depicting themes of Canadian history and rural life.

The senior artist at Grip, J. E. H. MacDonald, encouraged his staff to paint outside in their spare time to better hone their skills. In December 1910, artist William Smithson Broadhead was hired, soon joined by Arthur Lismer in February 1911. Robson would eventually hire Frederick Varley, followed by Franklin Carmichael in April 1911. Though Thomson was not himself a member, it was at The Arts and Letters Club that MacDonald would introduce Thomson to Lawren Harris. The club was considered the "centre of living culture in Toronto," providing an informal environment for the artistic community. Every member of what would come to be the original Group of Seven had now met. MacDonald would leave Grip in November 1911 to do freelance work and spend more time painting, likely the result of the Ontario Government purchasing his canvas By the River (Early Spring). MacDonald had perhaps the largest influence on Thomson's career as a painter; he enticed Thomson away from the commercial field and brought him towards painting through not only the encouraged weekend outdoor sketching, but through painting trips on holidays and introducing him to his fellow artists. MacDonald himself credited William Broadhead with Thomson's emergence as a painter, writing in a letter to Lismer that, "My memories in connection with Tom seem to begin with B[roadhead]." In a draft of an article, Harold Mortimer-Lamb would similarly credit Broadhead with Thomson's emergence. Lismer took exception to their claims, instead crediting MacDonald. A. Y. Jackson also expressed that Thomson's major development came after his ventures to Algonquin Park, rather than his time as a graphic designer. Lismer would later write,

[J. E. H.] MacDonald was the most important influence on Tom Thomson at this stage. These young artists (MacDonald, Frank Johnston, Tom McLean, Frederick Varley, Franklin Carmichael and Lismer) worked hard all week and sketched on Saturdays and Sundays. On Monday it was MacDonald in his corner seat who gave his opinion on sketches and offered philosophical encouragement. He was already recognized as a Canadian artist. Thomson in 1911 had not tried his hand at sketching out of doors. Perhaps it was that hitherto he did not feel he could do anything with the medium of oil painting, or... he was not ready to emerge. It was in the summer and fall 1911 that Thomson first emerged as a sketcher. His first efforts were primitive. They had a child[-like] quality, but like a child's work, with good quality and character. It was in the country around Toronto, on the Humber River, in the bush near York Mills and on excursions into the country around Lindsay and L[ake] Scugog where he and others went fishing that Thomson first painted.

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  Portrait of an Old Lake Captain, c. 1906. Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton
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  Design for a Stained Glass Window, c. 1905-08. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Decorative Landscape: Quotation from Maurice Maeterlinck, c. 1908. Ink on paper. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
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  Decorative Illustration: "Blessing" by Robert Burns, 1909. Watercolour, graphite and ink on paper. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
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  View from the Windows of Grip Ltd., c. 1908-10. Private collection

Painting career

Exploring Algonquin Park (1912-13)

See also: Algonquin Provincial Park and James MacCallum

Thomson fishing in Algonquin Park, c. 1914-16. Thomson was enamoured with the park and many of his works were painted in the area.

Thomson learned of Algonquin Park after hearing about it from fellow artist Tom McLean. He would first visit the Park in May 1912, venturing through the area on a canoe trip with his Grip colleague H. B. (Ben) Jackson. Together, they took the Grand Trunk Railway from Toronto to Scotia Junction, then transferred to the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway, arriving at Canoe Lake Station. McLean introduced Thomson to the Park superintendent, G. W. Barlett, and later met ranger Harry (Bud) Callighen while the two camped nearby on Smoke Lake. It was also at this time that, according to Jackson, Thomson acquired his first sketching equipment. Thomson did not yet take painting seriously however, with Jackson saying that Thomson did not think painting "would ever be taken seriously; in fact, he used to chuckle over the idea." Instead, they would spend most of their time fishing, except for "a few notes, skylines and colour effects." Dating sketches to this trip has sometimes proved difficult. One exception is the sketch Smoke Lake, Algonquin Park (1912), easily dated because Thomson gave it to Bud Callighen around the time of their first meeting. Charles Hill has also included the "somewhat awkward" Old Lumber Dam, Algonquin Park (1912) as likely being made during the trip. Robson identified Drowned Land (1912) as being painted on the Mississagi Forest Reserve canoe trip. Also dated to this time are The Canoe (1912) and A Northern Lake (1912).

During the same trip, Thomson began to read Izaak Walton's 1653 fishing guide, The Compleat Angler. Beyond being a fisherman's bible, the book provided a philosophy of how to live, similar to the one illustrated in Henry David Thoreau's 1854 book, Walden, or Life in the Woods, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. Thomson's time in Algonquin park provided him an ideal setting to imitate Walton's "contemplative" life. Ben Jackson would write of Thomson's character:

Tom was never understood by lots of people, was very quiet, modest and, as a friend of mine spoke of him, a gentle soul. He cared nothing for social life, but with one or two companions on a sketching and fishing trip with his pipe and Hudson Bay tobacco going, he was a delightful companion. If a party or the boys got a little loud or rough Tom would get his sketching kit and wander off alone. At time he liked to be that way, wanted to be by himself commune with nature.

Once back in Toronto, Jackson would publish an article about his and Thomson's experience in the Park in the Toronto Sunday World, included in which were several illustrations. After this initial experience, Thomson and another colleague, William Broadhead, went on a two month expedition, going up the Spanish River and into Mississagi Forest Reserve (today Mississagi Provincial Park). Thomson's transition from commercial art towards his original style of painting began to be apparent around this time. Much of his artwork from this trip, mainly oil sketches and photographs, has been lost due to two canoe spills experienced during the trip, the first spill being on Green Lake in a rain squall and the second in a series of rapids.

In fall 1912, Robson moved to the design firm Rous & Mann. A month after returning to Toronto, Thomson left Grip to join Rous & Mann, following Robson. They would soon to be joined by Varley, Carmichael and Lismer. Robson would later speak favourably of Thomson's loyalty, calling him, "a most diligent, reliable and capable craftsman." Robson's success in attracting great talent was well understood. Employee Leonard Rossell believed that the key to Robson's success "was that the artists felt that he was interested in them personally and did all he could to further their progress. Those who worked there were all allowed time off to pursue their studies... Tom Thomson, so far as a I know, never took definite lessons from anyone, yet he progressed quicker than any of us. But what he did was probably of more advantage to him. He took several months off in the summer and spent them in Algonquin Park."

In October, Thomson was introduced to Dr. James MacCallum in MacDonald's studio. MacCallum was a frequent visitor of the Ontario Society of Artists's (OSA) exhibitions and was admitted to the Arts and Letters Club in January 1912. It was there where he would meet artists such as John William Beatty, Arthur Heming, MacDonald and Harris. MacCallum would eventually persuade Thomson to leave Rous and Mann and start a painting career. In October 1913, MacCallum introduced Thomson to A. Y. Jackson, another eventual member of the Group of Seven. Harris would later recall Thomson's major developments around this time:

Thomson began to develop. His work commenced to emerge into the clear Canadian daylight. His work had been tight and sombre, almost a grey monotone in colour. Jackson's sparkling, vibrant, rich colour opened his eyes, as it did the eyes of the rest of us, and Tom saw the Canadian landscape as he had never seen it before. It amounted to a revelation. From then on nothing could hold him.

MacCallum recognized Thomson and Jackson's talents and offered to cover their expenses for one year if they committed themselves to painting full time. MacCallum and Jackson both encouraged Thomson to "take up painting seriously, [but] he showed no enthusiasm. The chances of earning a livelihood by it did not appear to him promising. He was sensitive and independent, and feared he might become an object of patronage." MacCallum wrote that when he first saw Thomson's sketches, he recognized their "truthfulness, their feeling and their sympathy with the grim fascinating northland... they made me feel that the North had gripped Thomson as it had gripped me since I was eleven when I first sailed and paddled through its silent places." He would further write that Thomson's paintings were "dark, muddy in colour, tight and not wanting in technical defects." After Thomson's death, MacCallum would work to preserve and advocate for Thomson's work.

Thomson accepted MacCallum's offer under the same terms offered to Jackson and decided to leave commercial art for the year. Thomson traveled around Ontario with his colleagues, especially to the wilderness of Ontario, which was to be a major source of inspiration for him. Regarding Algonquin Park, he would write in a letter to MacCallum that, "The best I can do does not do the place much justice in the way of beauty." He ventured to rural areas near Toronto and attempted to capture the surrounding nature. His early works, such as Northern Lake (1912-13) and Evening (1913) were not outstanding technically, yet they did illustrate an above average ability regarding composition and colour handling. Thomson may have worked as a fire ranger on the Mattagami reserve. Addison and Little have suggested that he guided fishing tours. Hill has found this unlikely since Thomson had only been in the park for a few weeks in the previous year. He became as familiar with logging scenes as with nature in the park and painted them both.

While returning to Toronto in November 1912, Thomson stopped in Huntsville. The visit was possibly to meet with Winfred Trainor, a woman whose family owned a cottage on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park. Trainor was later rumoured to have been engaged to Thomson for a marriage in the fall of 1917, though there is little information available regarding their relationship.

Northern Lake, Winter 1912-13. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

Thomson first exhibited with the OSA in March 1913, selling his painting Northern Lake (1912-13) to the Ontario Government for $250 (equivalent to CAD$6,500 in 2023) during the exhibition. MacCallum descried the painting as a "picture [of] one of the small northern lakes swept by a north west wind; a squall just passing from the far shore, the water crisp, sparkingly blue & broken into short, white-caps—a picture full of light, life and vigour." The sale afforded him time to paint and spend his time sketching through the summer and fall of 1913. Thomson's sketches from 1913 are often grey, but display greater colour handling than that seen in the earlier sketch Northern Lake (1912). Canvases like Morning Cloud (1913-14) and Moonlight (1913-14) use broken brushwork, a technique he likely learned from MacDonald and Jackson.

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  The Canoe, Spring or fall 1912. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Old Lumber Dam, Algonquin Park, Spring 1912. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
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  Evening, Fall 1913. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Northland Sunset, Summer or fall 1913. Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound

Early recognition (1914-15)

See also: Northern River (painting) and Studio Building (Toronto)

Thomson with his catch at Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park, c. 1915

Thomson often experienced self-doubt, with A. Y. Jackson recalling that in the fall of 1914, Thomson threw his sketch box into the woods out of frustration, and was "so shy he could hardly be induced to show his sketches." Often, if someone praised one of his sketches, he would immediately give it them as a gift. A turning point in Thomson's career came in 1914, when the National Gallery of Canada under the directorship of Eric Brown began acquiring his paintings. Though the money he made from the sales was not enough for him to live on, the recognition it provided him was unheard of for an unknown artist such as himself.

For several years he shared a studio and living quarters with fellow artists, initially living in the Studio Building with Jackson in January 1914. According to Jackson, the Studio Building was "a lively centre for new ideas, experiments, discussions, plans for the future and visions of an art inspired by the Canadian countryside." It was there that "Thomson, after much self-deprecation, finally submitted to becoming a full-time artist." They split the rent—$22 a month (equivalent to CAD$580 in 2023)—on the ground floor while construction on the rest of the building was finished. After Jackson moved out in December to go to Montreal, Carmichael took his place. They would share a studio space through the winter. On March 3, 1914, Thomson was nominated to be a member of OSA by Lismer and T. G. Greene. He was elected fully on the 17th. He did not participate in any of their activities however, beyond sending paintings for annual exhibitions. Thomson had strange working hours, with Harris describing them years later:

When he was in Toronto, Tom rarely left the shack in the daytime and then only when it was absolutely necessary. He took his exercise at night. He would put on his snowshoes and tramp the length of the Rosedale ravine and out into the country, and return before dawn.

In late April 1914, Thomson arrived in Algonquin Park, soon joined by Lismer who arrived on May 9. Together, they camped on Molly's Island in Smoke Lake, travelling to several different lakes, including Canoe, Smoke, Ragged, Crown and Wolf Lake. Thomson spent his spring and summer divided between Georgian Bay and Algonquin Park, visiting James MacCallum by canoe. His travels during this time have proved difficult to discern, with such a great amount of ground covered in such a short time, painting the French River, Byng Inlet, Parry Sound and Go-Home Bay from May 24 through August 10. H. A. Callighen, a park ranger, wrote in his journal that Thomson and Lismer left Algonquin Park on May 24. By May 30, Thomson was at Parry Sound and on June 1 he was camping at the French River with MacCallum. Joan Murray notes that Thomson would be at Go-Home Bay for the next two months, or at least until August 10 when he is seen in Algonquin Park again by Callighan. Wadland has expressed that if this timeline is correct, it would require "an extraordinary canoeist [...] especially on the open water of Georgian Bay, from the mouth of the French to Go-Home Bay (and back again). The difficulty is augmented by the fact of stopping to sketch at intervals along the way." Wadland has suggested that Thomson may have traveled via train at some points, with a station connecting Algonquin Park and Parry Sound, boarding a steamship thereafter. Addison and Harwood would instead say, "In the summer of 1914 Thomson paid a visit to Georgian Bay where Dr. MacCallum had a summer home. He traveled to Lake Nipissing via South River by lake, stream and portage, crossed the lake and paddled down the French River. Although he did a number of sketches at this time, he found much of the country inland monotonously flat and the rapids ordinary. In August he returned to Algonquin Park." Wadland has found this characterization unhelpful, pointing out that the rapids Thomson would have faced were hardly "ordinary." MacCallum provided specific dates for two of Thomson's paintings— May 30 and June 1 for Parry Sound Harbour and Spring, French River, respectively. These are some of the only instances of precise dating for Thomson's work. In addition, Cottage on a Rocky Shore is a depiction of MacCallum's cottage contrasted with the vast expanse of sky and water. Evening, Pine Island is of a nearby island MacCallum took Thomson to visit. MacCallum would write, "I had planned to take him up to the North West Wooded Pine where there is a tree that had always inspired me. [...] [W]e were late in getting started, so that instead I had to take him to the South West Wooded Pine—an island of granite about a quarter of a mile in length by 100 yards wide and say 50 feet high." Thomson continued to paint around the islands until he departed, likely because he found MacCallum's cottage too demanding socially, writing to Varley that it was "too much like north Rosedale."

Thomson continued canoeing alone until he met with A. Y. Jackson at Canoe Lake in mid-September. Though World War I had erupted that year, Thomson and Jackson went on a canoe trip, in October meeting up with Varley and his wife Maud, as well as Lismer and his wife and daughter, Ester and Marjorie. This marked the first time three Group of Seven members painted together, and the only time they worked with Thomson. In his 1958 autobiography, A Painter's Country, A. Y. Jackson would write that, "Had it not been for the war, the Group [of Seven] would have formed several years earlier and it would have included Thomson." Why Thomson did not serve in the war is a matter of debate. Robinson and Thomson's family would say that he was turned down after multiple attempts to enlist in the army, likely due to his poor health and age but also possibly because he had flat feet. Blodwen Davies wrote that Thomson's artist friends tried to convince him to not risk his life, but he decided to secretly volunteer anyway. Andrew Hunter has found this scenario to be unlikely, especially given that other artist friends did volunteer for the war, such as A. Y. Jackson. Thomson's sister suggested that he was a pacifist and that "he hated war and said simply in 1914 that he never would kill anyone but would like to help in a hospital, if accepted." William Colgate wrote that Thomson "brooded much upon" the war and that "he himself did not enlist. Rumour has it that he tried, and failed to pass the doctor. This is doubtful." Edward Godin, a companion, said "We had many discussions on the war. As I remember it he did not think that Canada should be involved. He was very outspoken in his opposition to Government patronage. Especially in the Militia. I do not think that we would offer himself for service. I know up until that time he had not tried to enlist." There is only one verifiable example of Thomson's opinion on the war, taken from a letter he wrote to J. E. H. MacDonald in 1915:

As with yourself, I can't get used to the idea of [A. Y.] Jackson being in the machine and it is rotten that in this so-called civilized age that such things can exist, but since this war has started it will have to go on until one side wins out, and of course there is no doubt which side it will be, and we will see Jackson back on the job once more.

With MacCallum's year of financial support over, Thomson's financial future was uncertain. Thomson would briefly look into putting in an application to be a park ranger, but balked after seeing that it could take months for the application to go through. Instead, he considered working in an engraving shop for a few months over the winter. He made little effort to sell his paintings, preferring to give them away, though he brought in some money from the paintings he sold. In mid-November, Thomson donated In Algonquin Park (1914-15) to an exhibition organized to raise money for the Canadian Patriotic Fund. It was sold to Marion Long for $50 (equivalent to CAD$1,300 in 2023).

In Algonquin Park, Winter 1914-15. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg

While his work from this period still displays "a certain awkwardness," Thomson surpassed his colleagues Jackson and Lismer in his brilliance of colour. The sketches produced in 1915 display his increasing tendency towards experimentation and his sensitivity to colour. Jackson would write regarding this period of Thomson's work, "No longer handicapped by literal representation, he was transposing, eliminating, designing, experimenting, finding happy colour motives amid tangle and confusion and [reveling] in paint. The amount of work he did was incredible."

In the spring of 1915, Thomson returned to Algonquin Park earlier than he had in any previous year and had already painted twenty-eight sketches by April 22. From April through July, he spent much of his time fishing, assisting groups on several different lakes. He would spend much of his summer travelling across the province, hunting and sketching. In July, he was invited to send paintings to the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition in September. Because Thomson was in Algonquin Park, his friends selected three works to send—two unidentified works from 1914 and the sketch Canadian Wildflowers (1915). From the end of September to mid-October, Thomson spent his time at Mowat, a village on the north end of Canoe Lake. By November, he was at Round Lake with Tom Wattie and Dr. Robert McComb. In late November, Thomson returned to Toronto and moved into a shack behind the Studio Building that Harris and MacCallum fixed up for him, renting it for $1 a month (equivalent to CAD$26 in 2023).

Over the 1915-16 winter in Toronto, Thomson produced several canvases, including In the Northland; The Birch Grove, Autumn; Autumn's Garland; Opulent October and Spring Ice. The sketches of his work display a two-dimensionality. Thomson's work from this period—like the works of Harris, Lismer and MacDonald—became more decorative. The colour is heightened, with spaces flattened and forms arranged into vertical bands. The branches and trunks of trees are more stylized in nature.

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  Fire-Swept Hills, Summer or fall 1915. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Artist's Camp, Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park, Fall 1915. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Autumn Foliage, Fall or winter 1915. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Spring Ice, Winter 1915–16. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Artistic peak (1916-17)

In the Northland, Winter 1915–1916. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal

In 1915, MacCallum commissioned MacDonald, Lismer and Thomson to paint decorative panels for his cottage on Go-Home Bay. In October of that year, MacDonald went up to take dimensions. Thomson produced four panels which were probably meant to go over the windows. In April 1916, when MacDonald and Lismer went to install them, they found that MacDonald's measurements were incorrect and the panels would not fit. In March, Thomson exhibited four canvases with the OSA: In the Northland (at that time, titled The Birches), Spring Ice, Moonlight and October (then titled The Hardwoods), all of which were painted over the winter of 1915–16. Sir Edmund Walker and Eric Brown of the National Gallery of Canada wanted to purchase In the Northland, but Montreal trustee Dr. Francis Shepherd convinced them to instead purchase Spring Ice. Reception to Thomson's paintings at this time were mixed. Margaret Fairbairn of the Toronto Daily Star would write, "Mr. Tom Thomson's 'The Birches' and 'The Hardwoods' show a fondness for intense yellows and orange and strong blue, altogether a fearless use of violent colour which can scarcely be called pleasing, and yet which seems an exaggeration of a truthful feeling that time will temper." A more favourable take came from artist Wyly Grier in The Christian Science Monitor:

Tom Thomson again reveals his capacity to be modern and remain individual. His early pictures—in which the quality of naivete had all the genuineness of the effort of the tyro and was not the counterfeit of it which is so much in evidence in the intensely rejuvenated works of the highly sophisticated—showed the faculty for affectionate and truthful record by a receptive eye and faithful hand; but his work today has reached higher levels of technical accomplishment. His Moonlight, Spring Ice and The Birches are among his best.

In The Canadian Courier, painter Estelle Kerr would similarly speak positively, describing Thomson as "one of the most promising of Canadian painters who follows the impressionist movement and his work reveals himself to be a fine colourist, a clever technician, and a truthful interpreter of the north land in its various aspects.

In 1916, Thomson left for Algonquin Park earlier than any previous year, evidenced by the large number of snow studies he produced at this time. In April or early May, MacCallum, Harris and his cousin Chester Harris joined Thomson at Cauchon Lake for a canoe trip. After MacCallum and Chester left, Harris and Thomson paddled together to Aura Lee Lake. Thomson produced many sketches which varied in composition, though they all had vivid colour and were applied thickly. MacCallum was present when Thomson painted his Sketch for "The Jack Pine", writing, "It may interest you to know that the deocrative pine in the foreground was blown down on Thomson just before he had finished the original sketch." He would go on to add that Harris thought the tree killed Thomson, "but he sprang up and continued painting."

In the end of May Thomson took a job as a fire ranger stationed at Achray on Grand Lake with Ed Godin. He followed the Booth Lumber Company's drive down the Petawawa River to the north end of the park. Thomson painted a sign, "Out-Side-In" on wood, for Godin's cabin. He found that fire ranging and painting did not mix well together, writing, "[I] have done very little sketching this summer as the two jobs don't fit in... When we are travelling two go together, one for canoe and the other the pack. And there's no place for a sketch outfit when your [sic] fire ranging. We are not fired yet but I am hoping to get put off right away. He likely returned to Toronto in late October or early November. Over the following winter, encouragement from Harris, MacDonald and MacCallum saw Thomson move into the most productive portion of his career, writing in a letter that he "got quite a lot done." Despite this, he did not submit any paintings to the OSA exhibition in the spring of 1917. It was during this time that he produced many of what would become his most famous works, including The Jack Pine and The West Wind. Dr. MacCallum suggested that several canvas works were unfinished, including Woodland Waterfall, The Pointers and The Drive. Barker Fairely similarly described The West Wind as being unfinished. Charles Hill has written that there are no reasons to believe Woodland Waterfall was unfinished. Similarly while it has sometimes been suggested that The Drive was modified after Thomson's death a reproduction from 1918 displays no discernible differences.

The Jack Pine, Winter 1916–17. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Thomson returned to Canoe Lake at the beginning of April, arriving early enough to paint the remaining snow and the ice breaking up on the surrounding lakes. He had little money to live but wrote that he could manage for around a year. On April 28, 1917 he received a guide's licence. Unlike previous years, he remained at Mowat with Lieutenant Crombine and his wife Daphne. Thomson let Mrs. Crombie select a sketch as a gift from his spring sketches and she selected Path Behind Mowat Lodge.

Works from this period—such as The Rapids—demonstrate his adept ability at controlling colour and are painted with a particular "crispness and freshness." Other paintings—such as Path Behind Mowat Lodge and Tea Lake Dam—illustrate his bold and expressive brushstrokes. The scale of Thomson's later canvases foreshadow the Algoma canvases the members of the Group of Seven would paint after the war. Art historians David Silcox and Harold Town have described this period of Thomson's art as moving in the direction of abstraction. Besides the deep love he had come to develop for Algonquin Park, Thomson was beginning to show an eagerness to depict areas beyond the park and explore other northern subjects.

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  The Pointers, Winter 1916-17. Hart House, University of Toronto
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  Woodland Waterfall, Winter 1916-17. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
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  The Rapids, Spring 1917. Private collection
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  Path Behind Mowat Lodge, Spring 1917. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Tea Lake Dam, Spring 1917. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg

Death

On July 8, 1917, Thomson was seen with Shannon Fraser, the owner of the Mowat Lodge. When it was too cold to camp in the park, he would often spend the night there. Mark Robinson, a park ranger, noted in his diary that Thomson "left Fraser's Dock after 12:30 pm to go to Tea Lake Dam or West Lake."

Thomson disappeared during this canoeing trip on Canoe Lake. His upturned canoe was spotted later in the afternoon, while his body was discovered in the lake eight days later. His watch had stopped at 12:14.

The body was examined by Dr. Goldwin Howland who concluded that the official cause of death was drowning. The coroner, Dr. Arthur E. Ranney, MD, supported Howland's conclusion that the drowning was accidental. The day after the body was discovered, it was interred in Mowat Cemetery near Canoe Lake. Under the direction of Thomson's older brother George, the body was exhumed two days later and re-interred in the family plot beside the Leith Presbyterian Church on July 21 in what is now the Municipality of Meaford.

Art and technique

Artistic development

Northern River, Winter 1914-15. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Thomson was largely self-taught. He was employed as a graphic designer with Toronto's Grip Ltd., an experience which honed his draughtsmanship. Although he began painting and drawing at an early age, it was only in 1912, when Thomson was well into his thirties, that he began to paint seriously. His first trips to Algonquin Park inspired him to follow the lead of fellow artists in producing oil sketches of natural scenes on small, rectangular panels for easy portability while travelling. Between 1912 and his death in 1917, Thomson produced hundreds of these small sketches, many of which are now considered works in their own right, and are housed in such galleries as the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg.

Northern Lights, Spring 1917. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

"The intimate charm with which he endows his waste of rock and swamp, friezes of spruce, the slim birch which clings to the meagre soil on the rocks, are but an expression of his love for the country."

—A. Y. Jackson, 1919

Thomson peaked creatively between 1914 and 1917. He was aided by the patronage of Toronto physician James MacCallum, who enabled Thomson's transition from graphic designer to professional painter. Although the Group of Seven was not founded until after Thomson's death, his work is sympathetic to that of group members A. Y. Jackson, Frederick Varley, and Arthur Lismer. These artists shared an appreciation for rugged, unkempt natural scenery, and all used broad brush strokes and a liberal application of paint to capture the stark beauty and vibrant colour of the Ontario landscape. Thomson's art also bears some stylistic resemblance to the work of European post-impressionists such as Vincent van Gogh, whose work he may have known from books or visits to art galleries. Other key influences were the Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, styles with which he would have been familiar from his work in the graphic arts.

Described as having an "idiosyncratic palette," Thomson's control of colour was exceptional. He often mixed available pigments to create unusual, new colours making his distinctive palette along with his brushwork instantly recognizable regardless of the subject of his work. His painting style and the atmosphere, colours and forms of his work directly inspired the work of his colleagues, particularly Jackson, Lismer, MacDonald and Harris. Mark Robinson would later recount that Thomson usually had a particular motif he wanted to depict before going into nature to find a comparison.

In 1914 Thomson made himself a sketch box to hold 8½ × 10½ inch (21.6 × 26.7 cm) panels. The lower half of the box served as a palette, while the upper half served as a support for canvas or wood panels. Slots made room for three paintings to be carried at any given time, keeping them apart so wet paint would not smear or flatten. Thomson utilized different materials throughout his career, providing a method for dating paintings. For example, the wood panels he used in 1914 developed vertical cracks. He had only occasionally used hard wood-pulp board in 1914, but consistently began using it in 1915. In the spring and fall of 1915 he used terra cotta-coloured and carnation-coloured paint as sealers, but by 1916 he had switched to ochre paint. In the spring of 1917 he disassembled and cut up wood crates to make into 5 × 7 inch (12.7 × 17.8 cm) panels for sketching, smaller than those he normally painted on and requiring tighter handling.

In 2000, an analytical study was conducted to understand the materials and working method of Thomson. In 2002-03, before a travelling exhibition organized by the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Canadian Conservation Institute utilized infrared and X-ray photography, spectroscopy and micro-sampling of pigments to further analyze many of Thomson's paintings. Sandra Webster-Cook and Anne Ruggles described in their research how Thomson would apply differently coloured primers in various parts of his paintings to give them subtle yet important qualities.

Sketch to canvas

Sketch for Opulent October, 1915. Private collection

Opulent October, Winter 1915-16. Private collection

David Silcox has pointed to Opulent October as being a particularly striking example of the sketch to canvas transition. The sketch (left) is dark-toned, utilizing muted greens, browns and other more sombre shades. The canvas (right) has the same composition, but uses "brilliant scarlets, light ochres, xanthine yellows and rusty oranges" to make the work into a "dazzling, dancing autumn subject."

The artwork of Thomson is typically divided into two bodies: the first is made up of the small oil sketches on wood panels, of which there are around 400, and the second is of around fifty larger works on canvas. The smaller sketches were typically done in the style of en plein air in "the North," primarily Algonquin Park, in the spring, summer and fall. The larger canvases were instead completed over the winter in Thomson's studio—an old utility shack with a wood-burning stove on the grounds of the Studio Building, an artist's enclave in Rosedale, Toronto. Although Thomson sold few of the larger paintings during his lifetime, they formed the basis of posthumous exhibitions, including one at Wembley in London, that eventually brought international attention to his work.

A dozen or so of the major canvases were directly derived from smaller sketches. Indeed, paintings like Northern River (1914-15), Spring Ice (1915-16), The Jack Pine (1916-17) and The West Wind (1916-17) were only later expanded into larger oil paintings. While the sketches were produced quickly, the canvases were developed over weeks or even months. Because of this, they display an "inherent formality," with the transition from small to large requiring a reinvention or elaboration of the original details. Comparing sketches with their respective canvases allows one to see the changes Thomson made in colour, detail and background textural patterns.

Series and themes

Trees

See also: The Jack Pine and The West Wind (painting)

The West Wind, Winter 1916-17. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

Thomson's most famous paintings are his depictions of pine trees, particularly The Jack Pine (1916-17) and The West Wind (1916-17). David Silcox has described these paintings as, "the visual equivalent of a national anthem, for they have come to represent the spirit of the whole country, notwithstanding the fact that vast tracts of Canada have no pine trees," and, "so majestic and memorable that nearly everyone knows them." Arthur Lismer would describe things similarly, saying that the tree in The West Wind was a symbol of the Canadian character, unyielding to the wind and emblematic of steadfastness and resolution.

Thomson had a great enthusiasm for trees and worked to capture their forms, the effect of the seasons upon them and the surrounding context of their location. He normally depicted trees as amalgamated masses, giving them "form structure and colour by dragging paint in bold strokes over an underlying tone." His favourite motif was of a slight hill next to a body of water. The enthusiasm he had is especially apparent in an anecdote from Ernest Freure, who invited Thomson to camp on an island on Georgian Bay with him:

One day while we were together on my island, I was talking to Tom about my plans for cleaning up the dead wood and trees and I said I was going to cut down all the trees but he said, "No, don't do that, they are beautiful."

The theme of the single tree is a common one in Art Nouveau, though Thomson may also have been heavily influenced by the work of MacDonald while working at Grip Limited. MacDonald was likely influenced by the landscape art of John Constable, whose work he would have seen while in England from 1903 to 1906. Thomson's earlier paintings were closer to literal renderings of the trees in front of him, while as he progressed they became more expressive with individual characteristics amplified. The painting Byng Inlet, Georgian Bay (1914-15) is an example of the broken, high-keyed colour Thomson and his colleagues were experimenting with during that time, and is similar to Lismer's Sunglow (1914-15). While Lismer only applied the technique to the water, Thomson applied it over the entire composition.

According to MacCallum, the painting Pine Island, Georgian Bay (1914-16) was worked on over an extended period. He would write specifically that this painting had "more emotion and feeling than any other of [Thomson's] canvases." In contrast, MacDonald found it "rather commonplace in color & composition & not representative of Thomson at his best."

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  Byng Inlet, Georgian Bay, Winter 1914-1915. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
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  Pine Trees at Sunset, Summer 1915. Private collection
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  Pine Island, Georgian Bay, Winter 1914-16. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
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  The Birch Grove, Autumn, Winter 1915-16. Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton
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  Pine Cleft Rocks, Spring 1916. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg

Skies

Sunset, Summer 1915. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Thomson was preoccupied with capturing the sky, especially near the end of his career from 1915 onward. Paintings like Sunset (1915)—which was painted at water level in a canoe—illustrate his excited brushstrokes in capturing the lakes reflection. The painting was done over a grey-green ground, adding depth to both the light on the sky and the reflecting water. Paintings from 1913 and on consistently utilize the perspective of the canoe, with a narrow foreground of water, a distant shoreline and a dominating sky.

The 1915 volcanic eruption of Lassen Peak in California provided dramatic sunrises and sunsets in the northern hemisphere for the year. These skies provided artistic inspiration for Thomson and other artists in the same way that the eruption of Krakatoa in the previous century had inspired painter Edvard Munch. Sky effects would be one of Thomson's main interests for the entire year, indicated by his heightened use of colour.

Harold Town has compared Sky (The Light That Never Was) (1913) to the works of J. M. W. Turner. In particular, he notes the way that the sky "[creeps] into the landscape, big rhythms supplanting small movement." The horizon disappears and pure movement is left behind.

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  Sky (The Light that Never Was), Summer 1913. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
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  Morning Cloud, Winter 1913-14. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Summer Day, Summer 1915. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
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  Round Lake, Mud Bay, Fall 1915. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Sunset, Canoe Lake, Spring 1916. Private collection

Nocturnes

Moose at Night, Winter 1916. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Thomson produced more nocturnes than the rest of the Group of Seven combined—roughly two dozen. MacCallum would recall that Thomson would often spend his nights laying in his canoe in the middle of the lake, stargazing and avoiding mosquitoes. Besides capturing the nighttime sky, he also captured silhouettes of spruce and birch trees, lumber camps, two moose emerging from water and the northern lights, painting five different sketches of the aurora. Park ranger Mark Robinson would later recount that Thomson would stand and contemplate the aurora for an extended period of time before going back into a cabin, painting by lamplight. Given the difficulty of painting by only moonlight, most if not all of Thomson's noctures were painted from memory. MacCallum confirmed this with the sketch Moose at Night, writing on the back "Winter 1916—at studio," likely implying it was painted in Toronto.

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  Moonlight, Winter 1913-14. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
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  Moonlight, Fall 1915. Private collection
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  Nocturne, Fall 1915. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
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  Silver Birches, Winter 1915-16. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
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  Northern Lights, Spring 1917. National Gallery of Canada.

Flowers

Wild Flowers, Summer 1915. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg

As was typical for early twentieth century painting, Thomson produced still lifes of flowers. These paintings, especially Marguerites, Wood Lillies and Vetch (1915) and Wild Flowers (1915), are particularly powerful examples of the genre. In these paintings, he redirected emphasis from the delicacy of the flowers towards simple broad strokes of colour, something Harold Town thought "[imparted] a toughness of design sometimes missing in his harder themes of rock and bracken."

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  Wild Flowers, Summer 1915. Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound
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  Water Flowers, Summer 1915. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
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  Marguerites, Wood Lillies and Vetch, Summer 1915. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Canadian Wildflower, Summer 1915. National Gallery on Canada, Ottawa
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  Moccasin Flower (Orchids, Algonquin Park), Spring 1916. private collection

Industry in nature

Lumber Dam, Summer 1915. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

During Thomson's time in Algonquin Park, logging and the lumber industry were a constant presence. He often painted the machinery left behind by lumber companies, with Lismer, Macdonald and himself being especially drawn to the subject. A. Y. Jackson would write,

It was a ragged country; a lumber company had slashed it up, and fire had run through it... Thomson was much indebted to the lumber companies. They had built dams and log chutes, and had made clearings for camps. But for them, the landscape would have been just bush, difficult to travel in and with nothing to paint.

Besides the dams, pointers, alligators and drives depicted in Thomson's work, other less obvious depictions of the lumber industry were depicted. For example, areas cleared out due to logging appear in early sketches, such as Canoe Lake (1913) and Red Forest (1913). The painting Drowned Land (1912) similarly displays the damage caused by logging operations and flooding due to damming. As well, the white birches present in many paintings only thrive in "sunny, open areas whose previous tree cover had been removed," meaning that logging was in some way necessary for them to flourish.

Around 1916, Thomson followed the drive of logs down the Madawaska River, painting the subject in The Drive (1916-17). MacDonald similarly expressed the drive in his 1915 painting Logs on the Gatineau.

Thomson's and the other artist's work is absent of criticism for the typical Canadian attitudes of the time, namely that the available natural resources were meant to be exploited. Harold Town has argued that, while Thomson and the other artists were not critical of industry, mining and logging, they did not glorify these issues and they took a relatively low profile within the art produced.

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  Drowned Land, Fall 1912. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Timber Chute, Fall 1915. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Bateaux, Summer 1916. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Sandbank with Logs, Fall 1916. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  The Drive, Winter 1916-17. University of Guelph Collection, Art Gallery of Guelph, Guelph

People

The Fisherman, Winter 1916-17. Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton

Thomson, like most of the members of the Group of Seven, rarely painted people. Harold Town would remark that both Thomson and Canadian artist David Milne "shared in common a similar inability to draw the human figure," something professor John Wadland thought was "embarrassingly evident" in several of Thomson's portraits. Town would go on to describe paintings like Man with Axe (Lowery Dixon) Splitting Wood (1915) as stiff, yet still held together in a cohesive crudity. He described Figure of a Lady, Laura (1915) differently, writing that it was a tender work that is "well-designed and plainly expressed, this loving picture is so secure in intention that it survives, indeed triumphs, over the severe cracking of the paint." Thomson's most successful attempts at capturing people typically feature figures far off in the distance, allowing them to blend in to the scene. This is apparent in paintings like Little Cauchon Lake (1916), Bateaux (1916), The Drive (1916-17), The Pointers (1916-17) and Tea Lake Dam (1917).

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  Man with Axe (Lowery Dickson) Splitting Wood, Fall 1915. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Figure of a Lady, Laura, Fall 1915. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
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  In the Sugar Bush (Shannon Fraser), Spring 1916. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  The Poacher, Spring 1916. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
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  Little Cauchon Lake, Spring 1916. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Approaching abstraction

"At the time of his death a perturbed Thomson was poised at the crevasse between figurative and non-figurative art. Whether he would have survived the jump is a matter of conjecture; that he would have jumped is, to me at least, a certainty."

—Harold Town

For artist and Thomson biographer Harold Town, the brevity of Thomson's career hinted at an artistic evolution never fully realized. He cites the 1916 oil painting Unfinished Sketch as "the first completely abstract work in Canadian art," a painting that, whether or not it was intended as a purely non-objective work, presages the innovations of abstract expressionism. Town describes the contents of the painting as being a sky that expresses the frustration Thompson must have experienced in adding paint to the small areas between trees, rocks and thickets. He similarly describes Late Autumn (1915) as being another "impatient study" that led to abstract experiment. Of particular importance are the areas between the branches, which are "brusquely smacked into place," as well as a similar foreground to that of Unfinished Sketch.

Thomson was prolific in the number of sketches he produced—over four hundred across his entire career—providing an opportunity to observe the trends and progression of his style. Starting as a landscape painter, he drew away from typical landscape convention and began to experiment with more excited brushstrokes, clashing paint and more vibrant colours.

Unfinished Sketch, Fall 1916. Private collection

David Silcox has pointed to Cranberry Marsh (1916) as indicating Thomson's move towards abstraction. He has also viewed After the Storm (1917), likely one of Thomson's last paintings, as an indication that Thomson was already responding to the changes happening in Western art, even if he didn't exactly know where it would lead. Examining the painting more closely, the landscape itself dissolves into bare strokes and pure abstraction.

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  Late Autumn, Fall 1915. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
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  Cranberry Marsh, Summer 1916. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
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  Algonquin Hillside, Snow, Fall 1916. Private collection
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  After the Storm, Spring 1917. Private collection

Photography

A northern mill-yard, II, c. 1913-14. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa. Probably a view of the mill-yard of the abandoned Gilmour Lumber Company at Canoe Lake. The man seated on the stump is thought to be Tom Wattie, an Algonquin Park ranger.

Thomson occasionally used photography to capture things that gained his interest, such as fish he caught, images of his friends or the landscape. He does not seem to have used any of his photographs for producing art, with none of the extant photos corresponding to any of his paintings. He instead preferred to capture images with small oil sketches, and nearly all of the works he produced are among these small sketches. David Silcox however has speculated that Drowned Land (1912), and perhaps other paintings, may have a slight resemblance to some of Thomson's photographs, suggesting he may have used his own photos as a memory aid in painting.

In 1912, while travelling up the Spanish River in the Mississagi area with William Broadhead, Thomson lost at least a dozen rolls of film (claiming in a letter that he lost 14 dozen) along with many more sketches after their canoe experienced several spills. He had intended to bring the images back to Grip Limited and use them in his commercial work.

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  A lake in Southern Ontario, III, c. 1911. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa
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  Double exposure: northern lake, I. c. 1912. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa
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  Two trout hanging from the tent pole, c. 1914. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa
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  Miss Winifred Trainor, II, c. 1913-17. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa

Legacy and influence

"Your Canadian art apparently, for now at least, went down in Canoe Lake. Tom Thomson still stands as the Canadian painter, harsh, brilliant, brittle, uncouth, not only most Canadian but most creative. How the few things of his stick in one's mind."

—David Milne in a letter to H. O. McCurry, 1930

Since his death, Thomson's work has grown in value and popularity. Scholar Sherrill Grace has written that Thomson is a "haunting presence" for Canadian artists and that he "embodies the Canadian artistic identity." Group of Seven member Arthur Lismer would similarly write that "Tom Thomson is the manifestation of the Canadian character."

In 2002, the National Gallery of Canada staged a major exhibition of his work, giving Thomson the same level of prominence afforded Picasso, Renoir, and the Group of Seven in previous years. One example of the value Thomson's work has achieved is the previously lost Sketch for Lake in Algonquin Park (1912/13). The painting was discovered in an Edmonton basement in 2018 and would go on to sell for nearly half a million dollars at a Toronto auction. The increased value of Thomson's work has led to the discovery of numerous forgeries of his work on the market.

The Tom Thomson Memorial Cairn, Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park

In September 1917, with financial assistance from MacCallum, the artists J. E. H. MacDonald and John William Beatty erected a memorial cairn with the help of area residents at Hayhurst Point on Canoe Lake, where Thomson died. Because of Thomson's deep love for the area, the Group "had not the heart to go back to Algonquin Park, so they moved to Algoma and Lake Superior... and other parts of the country." In the summer of 2004 another historical marker honouring Thomson was moved from its previous location nearer the centre of Leith to the graveyard in which Thomson is now buried. The grave site has become popular spot for visitors to the area with many fans of Thomson's work leaving pennies or small art supplies behind as tribute. In 1967, the Tom Thomson Art Gallery opened in Owen Sound. Numerous examples of his work are also on display at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario. Thomson's influence can be seen in the work of later Canadian artists, including Emily Carr, Goodridge Roberts, Harold Town, and Joyce Wieland.

An "untainted" artist

In the years since his death, Thomson has often been described as being independent of previous artistic traditions. Many have pointed to the fact that he never visited Europe or museums in the United States as evidence that he managed to avoid the developments of Modernist experiment. Thomson's lack of formal art education similarly caused the other members of the group to later see him as a natural, untainted artist, and this view has entered the myth and public perception surrounding him.

David Silcox and Andrew Hunter have argued that these perceptions were primarily propagated by his friends, those would form the Group of Seven in the years following his death and others in the Canadian art scene, nearly all of whom relied on the same basic details in their treatments of Thomson's life and career. Lismer, for example, would write, "[Thomson] had no connection with styles or schools... He had nothing to do with Europe and in his art there is not a trace of inherited style or influence from abroad... If one knew Thomson, one also realized that he knew nothing of such as things as [Art Nouveau or Impressionism]." Jackson would similarly write that Thomson's "rugged individuality was never dominated by any outside influence," and that Thomson was the "Instigator of the movement to the North Country." Lawren Harris echoed these views, saying "There was nothing that interfered with Tom's direct, primal vision of nature. He was completely innocent of any of the machinery of civilization and was happiest when away from it in the north." Barker Fairley wrote that, "Neither theory nor any acquired opinion can have had any permanent place in Thomson's mind. He was naïve throughout." Harold Mortimer-Lamb would write, "With his equipment he went to Nature and communed with her in all her moods." Blodwen Davies would write, "Through the story of painting in Canada there stalks a tall, lean trailsman, with his sketch box and paddle, an artist and dreamer who made the wilderness his cloister and there worshipped Nature in her secret moods." F. B. Housser would write, "Never before had such knowledge and the feeling for such things been given to expression in paint. Thomson's canvases are unique in the annals of all art especially when it is remembered that he was untrained as a painter. His master was nature." In general, members of the Group claimed that their art did not originate in established artistic traditions but was instead dictated by the landscape itself. A. Y. Jackson would describe Thomson as "the guide, the interpreter" who introduced his friends to "a new world, the north country." Dennis Reid would argue similarly, writing that Thomson's death was seen "almost as a sacrifice to the idea of an indigenous Canadian art... Thomson was... to become Canada's first Old Master, and as an idea he has acted as a constant inspiration to all who believed that the secret of Canada's self-knowledge is somehow contained in the land." Revisionist art historians have criticized the view that Thomson and the Group of Seven were originators of a new Canadian nationalist style of art.

Despite the popular notion that Thomson had no formal art instruction, it is possible that he briefly studied under British artist William Cruikshank around 1905. Only two sources corroborate this however. The first is a single undated note from Cruikshank to professor James Mavor, arranging to bring a "Tomson" [sic] to meet him. Further complicating the matter is that the original class list no longer survives. The second is a letter from H. B. Jackson to Blodwen Davies, writing, "Tom studied from life & the antique in art school. If I remember right Cruikshank was the instructor." Besides in-person instruction, it is also possible that he read John Ruskin's 1857 handbook, The Elements of Drawing, while learning to draw. Outside of these possibilities, it seems that he had no other art instruction. Thomson's work in commercial art however did seem to have an influence on his painting, leading him to familiarity with the Art Nouveau as well as Arts and Crafts movements. Similarly, working with his fellow artists caused him to become aware of the techniques of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Regarding Art Nouveau tendencies, Jackson would write that, "We (the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson) treated our subjects with the freedom of designers. We tried to emphasize colour, line and pattern." These techniques can be seen within Thomson's work, whether it be Impressionism in The Pointers (1916-17); Art Nouveau in Northern River (1914-15), Decorative Landscape, Birches (1915-16), Spring Ice (1915-16) and The West Wind (1916-17); or Expressionism in After the Storm (1917) and Cranberry Marsh (1917).

The outdoorsman

Thomson fishing at Tea Lake Dam in Algonquin Park, c. 1915

Though he is most known for his painting, Thomson is often mythologized as a veritable outdoorsman. Dr. James MacCallum would contribute stories to this image:

[Thomson] was wont to paddle out into the centre of the lake on which he happened to be camping and spend the whole night there in order to get away from the flies and mosquitos [sic]. Motionless he studied the night skies and the changing outline of the shores while beaver and otter played around his canoe.

In another story, he was said to have encountered a large wolf who, after sniffing him briefly, left him alone.

Thomson has often been remembered as an expert canoeist. David Silcox has argued that this image is likely romanticized. A. Y. Jackson wrote that Thomson "paddled like an Indian," holding his abilities in high esteem. Despite this, Park ranger Mark Robinson would say that Thomson admitted to him in 1913 that he did not know much about canoeing. In addition, there are multiple stories of him capsizing. In 1912, after hearing that Thomson had capsized and lost most of his supplies on a canoeing trip up the Mississagi River, friend John McRuer replied saying, "You might have been drowned you devil; and that was not the first time you were bumped, eh!"

Despite these romantic images, an area that Thomson was no doubt proficient in was fishing. He had a deep love of fishing for his entire life, so much so that his reputation through Algonquin Park was equally divided between art and angling. While most who visited the Park were led by hired guides, Thomson moved through on his own. Indeed, many of his fishing locations appear in his work. Upon visiting Canoe Lake for the first time in 1914, A. Y. Jackson would write to J. E. H. MacDonald, "It appears that Tom Thomson is some fisherman, quite noted round here."

In popular culture

Canadian poet and member of the Montreal Group, A. J. M. Smith would write in a letter to Sandra Djwa that it was Thomson's painting The Jack Pine (1916-17) that helped him get started on his poem, "The Lonely Land." The poem, perhaps Smith's most known and most anthologized, was first published in The McGill Fortnightly Review on January 9, 1926, subtitled "Group of Seven." It would undergo several revisions, appearing in Canadian Forum in July 1927 and the American magazine The Dial in June 1929. Smith had not seen the painting in person, but only as a colour reproduction. The first stanza utilizes the texture ("jagged," "smooth") and rhythmic movement ("sharp," "bitter," "barbs") of a painting as it describes a northern landscape. Smith's 1925 poem "Prayer" proceeds similarly, even referencing The Jack Pine by name in its opening stanza. Several other books of poetry inspired by Thomson have also been published, including George Whipple's Tom Thomson and Other Poems (2000), Troy Jollimore's Tom Thomson in Purgatory (2006), and Kevin Irie, Viewing Tom Thomson: A Minority Report (2012).

Joyce Wieland's 1976 film The Far Shore is based on the life and death of Tom Thomson. Journalist Roy MacGregor's 1980 novel Shorelines—later reissued in 2002 as Canoe Lake—is a fictional interpretation of Thomson's death. Neil Lehto's 2005 book Algonquin Elegy is a self-described piece of historical fiction, focusing on Thomson's death. Several songs reference Thomson's death, including The Tragically Hip's 1991 single "Three Pistols."

Canada Post has issued multiple stamps of Thomson's work from as early as 1967. Works depicted have included The Jack Pine (printed in 1967), April in Algonquin Park (1977), Autumn Birches (1977), The West Wind (1990) and In the Northland (2016).

The Tom Thomson plaque in Leith, Ontario

Death conspiracy theories

Many conspiracy theories have swirled around the nature of Tom Thomson's death, including that he was murdered or committed suicide. Though these ideas lack substantiation, they have continued to persist in the popular culture. Andrew Hunter has pointed to Robinson as being largely responsible for the suggestion that there was more to Thomson's death than accidental drowning. Hunter expands on this thought, writing, "...I am convinced that people's desire to believe the Thomson murder mystery/soap opera is rooted in the firmly fixed idea that he was an expert woodsman, intimate with nature. Such figures aren't supposed to die by "accident." If they do, it is like Grey Owl's being exposed as an Englishman."

In 1935, Blodwen Davies published the first exploration of Thomson's death outside of newspaper accounts from the time of Thomson's death. A self-published edition of 500 copies, her doubts about the official decision of cause of death sold poorly.

In 1970, Judge William Little's book, The Tom Thomson Mystery, recounted how—in 1956—Little and three friends dug up Thomson's original gravesite, in Mowat Cemetery on Canoe Lake. They believed that the remains they found were Thomson's. In the fall of 1956, medical investigators determined that the body was that of an unidentified Aboriginal.

In 2007, the Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History project launched "Death On A Painted Lake: The Tom Thomson Tragedy," a book-length, bilingual (English/French) web site featuring a selection of over fifty transcribed primary and secondary documents related to Thomson's death, including documents never before made public, such as Blodwen Davies' 1931 request to the Ontario Attorney General for opening of Thomson's Algonquin Park burial site.

Utilizing, in part, the Great Unsolved Mysteries site transcriptions, Canadian newspaper columnist Roy MacGregor has described his 2009 examination of records of the 1956 remains unearthed by William Little (the remains have been reburied or lost) and concluded that the body was actually Thomson's, indicating "that Thomson never left Canoe Lake."

David Silcox and Harold Town have pointed out incorrect evidence being used to justify the belief that Thomson was murdered. Chief among these is that Thomson's feet were found tangled in wire. This claim is a misinterpretation of Robinson's original observation that the body had a carefully bound fishing line around a sprained ankle, actually a common a remedy for arthritis or a sore joint. Silcox has proposed that it is easy to imagine Thomson standing in his canoe to cast a fishing line, losing his balance in the process, hitting his head on the gunwale and falling into the water unconscious only to drown. A popular—if unverifiable—story recounts that he was attempting to catch a particularly large bass on Joe Lake the day he disappeared.

In an essay entitled, "The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson," published in 2011, Gregory Klages describes how testimony and theories regarding Thomson's death have evolved since 1917. Assessing the secondary accounts against the primary evidence, Klages concludes that Thomson's death is consistent with the official assessment of 'accidental drowning'. Historians Kathleen Garay and Christl Verduyn state, "Klages' forensic archival sleuthing does provide for the first time some degree of certainty regarding this event." Klages expanded on these ideas in a book with a similar name, The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson: Separating Fact from Fiction, published in 2016. He particularly challenges MacGregor's claims, suggesting MacGregor is guilty of misrepresenting evidence.

References

Sources

Books

• Addison, Ottelyn; Harwood, Elizabeth (1969). Tom Thomson: The Algonquin Years. Toronto: Ryerson Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (1974). Early Days in Algonquin Park. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Brown, W. Douglas (1998). "The Arts and Crafts Architecture of Eden Smith". In Latham, David (ed.). Scarlet Hunters: Pre-Raphaelitism in Canada. Toronto: Archives of Canadian Art. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Colgate, William, ed. (1946). Two Letters of Tom Thomson, 1915 and 1916. Weston: Old Rectory Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Davies, Blodwen (1930a). Paddle & Palette: The Story of Tom Thomson. Toronto: Ryerson Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (1935). A Study of Tom Thomson: The Story of a Man Who Looked for Beauty and for Truth in the Wilderness. Toronto: Discuss Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Dawn, Leslie (2007). "The Britishness of Canadian Art". In O'Brian, John; White, Peter (eds.). Beyond Wilderness: The Group of Seven, Canadian Identity, and Contemporary Art. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Dejardin, Ian A. C. (2011). Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. London: Dulwich Picture Gallery. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (2018). "Dazzle and Kick: The Life of David Milne". In Milroy, Sarah; Dejardin, Ian A. C. (eds.). David Milne: Modern Painting. London: Philip Wilson Publishers. pp. 17–28. ISBN 978-1781300619. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Djwa, Sandra (1992). "Who is This Man Smith?: Second and Third Thoughts on Canadian Modernism". In New, W. H. (ed.). Inside the Poem: Essays and Poems in Honour of Donald Stephens. Toronto: Oxford Press. pp. 205–15. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Edwards, Ron (1976). Petawawa River Survey Sites: A History. Algonquin Region: Ministry of Natural Resources. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Forsey, William C. (1975). The Ontario Community Collects: A Survey of Canadian Painting from 1766 to the Present. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario.
• Grace, Sherril (2004a). Inventing Tom Thomson: From Biographical Fictions to Fictional Autobiographies and Reproductions. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Harris, Lawren (1929). "Creative Art and Canada". In Brooker, Bertram (ed.). Yearbook of the Arts in Canada, 1928-1929. Toronto: Macmillan Company of Canada. pp. 177–86. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (1964). The Story of the Group of Seven. Toronto: Rous and Mann Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Hill, Charles (2002). "Tom Thomson, Painter". In Reid, Dennis (ed.). Tom Thomson. Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 111–143. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Housser, F. B. (1926). A Canadian Art Movement: The Story of the Group of Seven. Toronto: Macmillan. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Hunter, Andrew (2002). "Mapping Tom". In Reid, Dennis (ed.). Tom Thomson. Toronto/Ottawa: Art Gallery of Ontario/National Gallery of Canada. pp. 19–46. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Irie, Kevin (2012). Viewing Tom Thomson: A Minority Report. Calgary: Frontenac House. ISBN 978-1897181638. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Jackson, A. Y. (1919). Foreword. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Paintings by the Late Tom Thomson, March 1 to March 21, 1919. By Arts Club of Montreal. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (1935). Foreword. A Study of Tom Thomson: The Story of a Man Who Looked for Beauty and for Truth in the Wilderness. By Davies, Blodwen. Toronto: Discus Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (1958). A Painter's Country. Toronto: Clarke Irwin. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Jessup, Lynda (2007). "Art for a Nation". In O'Brian, John; White, Peter (eds.). Beyond Wilderness: The Group of Seven, Canadian Identity, and Contemporary Art. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Jollimore, Troy (2007). Tom Thomson in Purgatory. Chesterfield: Margie Inc. ISBN 978-0971904057. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• King, Ross (2010). Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven. D & M Publishers. ISBN 978-1553658078. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Klages, Gregory (2016). The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson: Separating Fact from Fiction. Toronto: Dundurn. ISBN 978-1459731967. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Landry, Pierre (1990). The MacCallum-Jackman Cottage Mural Paintings. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lehto, Neil J. (2005). Algonquin Elegy Tom Thomson's Last Spring. New York: Universe Inc. ISBN 978-0595361328. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Little, William T. (1970). The Tom Thomson Mystery. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lloyd, Donald L. (2000). Canoeing Algonquin Park. Toronto: Donald L. Lloyd. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• MacGregor, Roy (1980). Shorelines: a Novel. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 978-0771054594. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (2010). Northern Light: The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson and the Woman Who Loved Him. Toronto: Random House Canada. ISBN 978-0307357397. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• McKay, Marylin J. (2011). Picturing the Land: Narrating Territories in Canadian Landscape Art, 1500-1950. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• McKenna, Ed (1976). A Systematic Approach to the History of the Forest Industry in Algonquin Park, 1835-1913, with an Evaluation of Algonquin Park's Historical Resources and an Assessment of Algonquin Park's Historical Zone System. Algonquin Region: Ministry of Natural Resources. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Murray, Joan (1971). The Art of Tom Thomson. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (1986). The Best of Tom Thomson. Edmonton: Hurtig. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (1998). Tom Thomson: Design for A Canadian Hero. Toronto: Dundurn. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (1999). Tom Thomson: Trees. Toronto: McArthur & Co. ISBN 978-1552780923. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (2002a). "Tom Thomson's Letters". In Reid, Dennis (ed.). Tom Thomson. Toronto/Ottawa: Art Gallery of Ontario/National Gallery of Canada. pp. 297–306. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (2002b). "Chronology". In Reid, Dennis (ed.). Tom Thomson. Toronto/Ottawa: Art Gallery of Ontario/National Gallery of Canada. pp. 307–317. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (2004). Water: Lawren Harris and the Group of Seven. Toronto: McArthur & Co. pp. 108–15. ISBN 978-1552784570. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (2006). Rocks: Franklin Carmichael, Arthur Lismer, and the Group of Seven. Toronto: McArthur & Co. pp. 92–7. ISBN 978-1552786161. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Northway, Mary L. (1970). Nominigan: The Early Years. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Reid, Dennis (1969). The MacCallum Bequest. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (1970a). The Group of Seven. Ottawa: The National Gallery of Canada. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (1971). A Bibliography of the Group of Seven. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ———, ed. (2002a). Tom Thomson. Toronto/Ottawa: Art Gallery of Ontario/National Gallery of Canada. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (2002b). "Tom Thomson and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Toronto". In Reid, Dennis (ed.). Tom Thomson. Toronto/Ottawa: Art Gallery of Ontario/National Gallery of Canada. pp. 65–83. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Robson, Albert H. (1932). Canadian Landscape Painters. Toronto: Ryerson Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (1937). Tom Thomson: Painter of Our North Country, 1877-1917. Toronto: Ryerson Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Roza, Alexandra M. (1997). Towards a Modern Canadian Art 1910-1936: The Group of Seven, A.J.M. Smith and F.R. Scott (PDF) (Thesis). McGill University. {{cite thesis}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Silcox, David P.; Town, Harold (1977). The Silence and the Storm. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (2011). The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson. Richmond Hill: Firefly Books. ISBN 978-1554078851. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (2015). Tom Thomson: Life and Work. Toronto: Art Canada Institute. ISBN 978-1487100759. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ———; Town, Harold (2017). The Silence and the Storm (Revised, Expanded ed.). Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 978-1443442343. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Sloan, Johanne (2010). Joyce Wieland's the Far Shore. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1442610606. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Smith, A. J. M. (2006). Gnarowski, Michael (ed.). Selected Writings. Toronto: Dundurn Press. ISBN 978-1550026658. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Stacey, Robert; Bishop, Hunter (1996). J. E. H. MacDonald, Designer: An Anthology of Graphic Design, Illustration and Lettering. Ottawa: Archives of Canadian Art, Carleton University Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (1998). "Making Us See the Light: Franklin Brownell's 'Middle Passage'". North by South: The Art of Peleg Franklin Brownell (1857-1946). Ottawa: Ottawa Art Gallery. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (2002). "Tom Thomson as Applied Artist". In Reid, Dennis; Hill, Charles C. (eds.). Tom Thomson. Toronto/Ottawa: Art Gallery of Ontario/National Gallery of Canada. pp. 47–63. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Stanners, Sarah (2017). Passion Over Reason: Tom Thomson & Joyce Wieland. Kleinburg: McMichael Canadian Art Collection. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Strickland, Dan (1996). Trees of Algonquin Provincial Park. Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Tooby, Michael (1991). Our Home and Native Land: Sheffield's Canadian Artists. Sheffield: Mappin Art Gallery. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Verduyn, Christl (2011). Garay, Kathleen (ed.). Archival Narratives for Canada: Re-telling Stories in a Changing Landscape. Winnipeg: Fernwood Pub. ISBN 978-1552664469. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Wadland, John (1978). Ernest Thompson Seton: Man in Nature and the Progressive Era, 1880-1915. New York: Arno. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• ——— (2002). "Tom Thomson's Places". In Reid, Dennis (ed.). Tom Thomson. Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 85–109. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Webster-Cook, Sandra; Ruggles, Anne (2002). "Technical Studies on Thomson's Materials and Working Methods". In Reid, Dennis (ed.). Tom Thomson. Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 145–51. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Whipple, George (2000). Tom Thomson and other poems (1st ed. ed.). Manotick: Penumbra Press. ISBN 978-1894131117. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Zeller, Suzanne (1994). "William Brodie". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. 1901-1910. Vol. 13. University of Toronto Press: Toronto. pp. 112–14. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Articles

• Bayer, Fern (1981). "The 'Ontario Collection' and the Ontario Society of Artists Policy and Purchases, 1873-1914". RACAR. 8 (1). {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Canadian Press, The (May 30, 2018). "Tom Thomson sketch discovered in Edmonton basement sells for $481K at auction". thestar.com. Toronto Star. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
• Corbeil, Marie-Claude; Moffatt, Elizabeth A.; Sirois, P. Jane; Legate, Kris M. (2000). "The Materials and Techniques of Tom Thomson". Journal of the Canadian Association for Conservation. 25: 3–10. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Dellandrea, Jon S. (July–August 2017). "Brush with Infamy". Literary Review Canada. Vol. 26, no. 6. Retrieved August 8, 2018. {{cite magazine}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Fairbairn, Margaret (March 11, 1916). "Some Pictures at the Art Gallery". Toronto Daily Star. {{cite news}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Fairley, Barker (March 1920). "Tom Thomson and Others". The Rebel. 3 (6): 244–48. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Ghent, Percy (November 8, 1949). "Tom Thomson at Island Camp, Round Lake, November, 1915". Toronto Telegram. {{cite news}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Jackson, A. Y. (1933a). "J. E. H. MacDonald". The Canadian Forum. 13: 136–38. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Jackson, H. B. (April 11, 1912). "A Camping Trip in Algonquin National Park". Toronto Sunday World. {{cite news}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Jessup, Lynda (Spring 2002). "The Group of Seven and the Tourist Landscape in Western Canada, or the More Things Change...". Journal of Canadian Studies. 37: 144–79. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Kerr, Estelle M. (March 25, 1916). "At the Sign of the Maple". Canadian Courier. Vol. 19, no. 17. {{cite magazine}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lismer, Arthur (January 1934). "The West Wind". McMaster Monthly. 43 (4): 163–64. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Little, R. P. (1955). "Some Recollections of Tom Thomson and Canoe Lake". Culture. 16: 200–208. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• MacCallum, James (March 31, 1918). "Tom Thomson: Painter of the North". Canadian Magazine. pp. 375–85. {{cite magazine}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Mortimer-Lamb, Harold (March 29, 1919a). "Letter to the editor, with attached draft article". Studio Magazine. {{cite magazine}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Reid, Dennis (1970b). "Photographs by Tom Thomson". National Gallery of Canada Bulletin/Galerie nationale du Canada Bulletin. 16: 2–36. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Thomson, Margaret (Spring 1956). "Margaret Thomson Reminiscences of Tom Thomson". New Frontiers. 5 (1): 21–24. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Vikander, Tessa (May 9, 2018). "Tom Thomson sketch heads to Toronto auction block after languishing in Edmonton basement". thestar.com. Toronto Star. Retrieved August 6, 2018. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Films

• McInnes, Graham (Director) (1944). West Wind (35mm film, colour). National Film Board of Canada.
• Wieland, Joyce (Director) (1976). The Far Shore (35mm film, colour). Toronto: Far Shore Inc.

Archives and letters

• Cruikshank, William. "Letter from Wm. Cruikshank to Prof. Mavor, no year" (February 14). Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Series: James Mavor Papers, Box: 4a. Toronto: University of Toronto.
• Davies, Blodwen. "Application for the exhumation of the body of one Thos. Thomson drowned in Canoe Lake in 1917" (July 27, 1931). Attorney General Central Registry Criminal and Civil Files, Fonds: Blodwen Davies fond, File: 2225, ID: RG 4-32. North York: Archives of Ontario.
• ———. "Tom Thomson's Sketchbox" (c. 1930). Blodwen Davies collection, Series: 11, ID: MG30-D38. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• Fraser, J.S. "Telegram to Dr. James MacCallum" (July 10, 1917a) [Telegram]. Dr. James M. MacCallum Papers. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada Archives.
• ———. "Telegram to John Thomson" (July 16, 1917b) [Telegram]. Tom Thomson Collection, File: 1.3, ID: MG30-D284. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• Freure, Ernest. "Ernest Freure to Blodwen Davies" (November 19, 1935) [Letter]. Blodwen Davies Papers, Box: 1, ID: CMG 30 D4. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• Godin, Edward. "Edward Godin to Blodwen Davies" (June 15, 1931a) [Letter]. Blodwen Davies collection, Fonds: Blodwen Davies fond, Box: 11, ID: MG30-D38. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• Grier, Wyly. "Pictures at the Ontario Society of Artists, Toronto, Canada" (1916) [typescript]. Wyly Grier Papers, ID: F1108. North York: Archives of Ontario.
• Howland, Gordon W. "Copy of Dr. G. W. Howland's affidavit (Originals withdrawn from circulation. Copies available on microfilm C-4579)" (July 17, 1917). 11, Fonds: Blodwen Davies fond, ID: MG30-D38. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• Jackson, A. Y. "A. Y. Jackson to J. E. H. MacDonald" (February 14, 1914) [Letter]. J. E. H. MacDonald collection, Fonds: MacDonald fonds, Box: 11, ID: MG30-D111. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• ——— (August 4, 1917). "Tom Thomson". Letter to Mrs. Henry Jackson. {{cite press release}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• ———. "A. Y. Jackson to Norah Thomson" (May 21, 1924) [Letter]. Norah De Pencier, Series: 1, ID: MG30-D322. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• ———. "A. Y. Jackson to Marius Barbeau" (March 31, 1933b) [Letter]. Marius Barbeau Collection, Box: 19. Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Civilization.
• Jackson, H. B. "H. B. Jackson to Blodwen Davies" (May 25, 1930) [Letter]. Blodwen Davies collection, Fonds: Blodwen Davies fond, Box: 11, ID: MG30-D38. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• ———. "H. B. Jackson to Blodwen Davies" (April 29, 1931a) [Letter]. Blodwen Davies collection, Fonds: Blodwen Davies fond, Box: 11, ID: MG30-D38. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• ——— (May 5, 1931b). "Algonquin Park". Letter to Blodwen Davies. {{cite press release}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Klages, Gregory. "Welcome". Death On A Painted Lake: The Tom Thomson Tragedy. Retrieved April 15, 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lismer, Arthur. "A. Lismer to J. E. H. MacDonald" (March 21, 1919) [Letter]. Arthur Lismer, Box: 11, ID: MG30-D111. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• ———. "Tom Thomson" (c. 1942). Arthur Lismer, Fonds: Arthur Lismer, Box: 2, ID: MG30-D184. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• MacCallum, J. M. "Mrs. Quinton" (September 21, 1921a) [Letter]. Canadian Group of Seven, Series: 3, Box: 28, File: 1. Buffalo: Albright-Know Art Gallery Archives.
• ———. "Eric Brown" (September 21, 1921b) [Letter]. MacCallum Collector's file. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada Archives.
• ———. "A. L. Beatty" (May 14, 1937a) [Letter]. Thomson Papers. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario Archives.
• ———. "H. O. McCurry" (July 18, 1938) [Letter]. Tom Thomson Papers. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada Archives. 1.71–MacCallum.
• ———. "J. M. MacCallum to H. O. McCurry, June 16, 1939, and H. O. McCurry to J.M. MacCallum, November 7, 1939, annotated with a response from Dr. MacCallum" (1939) [Letter]. Tom Thomson Papers, Series: Tom Thomson. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada Archives. NGC 4726.
• MacDonald, J. E. H. (October 3, 1917). "Memorial cairn". Letter to John Thomson. {{cite press release}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• ———. "A. Lismer" (March 16, 1919) [Letter]. Arthur Lismer Papers. The McMichael Canadian Art Collection Archives.
• ——— (October 14, 1921). "Tom Thomson". Letter to Eric Brown. {{cite press release}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Milne, David (April 1930). "draft, in Milne family papers". Letter to H.O. McCurry. {{cite press release}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Ontario Society of Artists. "Minutes of the meetings of March 3 and 17, 1914" (March 3/17, 1914) [Minutes Books]. Ontario Society of Artists Papers, File: F1140. North York: Archives of Ontario.
• Ranney, A. E. "Letter to Blodwen Davies (Original withdrawn from circulation. Copies available on microfilm C-4579)" (May 7, 1931). 11, Fonds: Blodwen Davies fond, ID: MG30 D38. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• Rossell, Leonard. "Reminiscences of Grip, Members of the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson" (c. 1951). Tom Thomson Collection, File: T485.R82, ID: MG30-D284. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• Robinson, Mark. "Mark Robinson's Daily journal" (July 16-18, 1917) [Journal entry]. Addison family, Fonds: Addison family fonds, ID: 97-011. Peterborough: Trent University Archives.
• Sharpe, Dr. Noble (October 30, 1956). Re: Human Bones received from unmarked grave in Algonquin Park. Documents supplied in response to Freedom of Information and Protection of Personal Privacy Act request. Centre for Forensic Sciences, Toronto.
• Thomson, Fraser. "Fraser Thomson to Blodwen Davies" (May 19, 1930) [Letter]. Blodwen Davies collection, Fonds: Blodwen Davies fond, Box: 11, ID: MG30-D38. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• Thomson, George. "George Thomson to J. M. MacCallum" (July 19, 1917a) [Letter]. Dr. James M. MacCallum Papers, Series: George Thomson correspondence, Box: 1, File: 6, ID: MG30-D38. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada Archives.
• ———. "George Thomson to Blodwen Davies" (April 23, 1934) [Letter]. Blodwen Davies collection, Fonds: Blodwen Davies fond, Box: 11, ID: MG30-D38. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.
• Thomson, Henry (October 19, 1946). "Letter to McCurry with a typed copy of draft letter from Ralph Thomson to Blodwen Davies". Letter to H. O. McCurry. {{cite press release}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Thomson, Tom (October 17, 1912). "Letter to McRuer". Letter to Dr. M. J. (John) McRuer. {{cite press release}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• ——— (July 8, 1914a). "Letter to Varley". Letter to Frederick Varley.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• ———. "Letter to Dr. James MacCallum" (October 6, 1914b) [Letter]. Dr. James M. MacCallum Papers, Series: Tom Thomson correspondence, Box: 1, File: 5. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada Archives.
• ——— (July 22, 1915a). "MacDonald". Letter to J. E. H. MacDonald.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• ——— (September 8, 1915b). "MacCallum". Letter to J. M. MacCallum.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• ———. "Letter to Dr. James MacCallum" (October 4, 1916) [Letter]. Dr. James M. MacCallum Papers, Series: Tom Thomson correspondence, Box: 1, File: 5. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada Archives.
• ———. "Letter to T. J. Harkness" (April 16, 1917b) [Letter]. Tom Thomson correspondence 1912–17, Fonds: Tom Thomson, Series: 1, ID: MG30-D284. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada.

Further reading

Books and catalogues

• Boulet, Roger (1982). The Canadian Earth and Tom Thomson. Cerebrus Publishing.
• Hubbard, R. H. (1962). Tom Thomson. Toronto: Society for Art Publications/McClelland and Stewart.
• Lismer, Arthur (1967). Tom Thomson: The Story of a Man Who Looked for Beauty and Truth in the Wilderness. Vancouver: Mitchell Press.
• Littlefield, Angie (2017). Tom Thomson's Fine Kettle of Friends: Biography, History, Art and Food. Toronto: Marangi Editions. ISBN 978-0995831803.
• MacCallum, J. M. (1937b). Tom Thomson: Painter of the North. Toronto: Mellors Gallery.
• Millard, Laura (1998). Algonquin Memories: Tom Thomson in Algonquin Park. Owen Sound: Thompson Books.
• Murray, Joan (1994a). Northern Lights: Masterpieces of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. Toronto: Key Porter.
• ——— (1994b). Tom Thomson: The Last Spring. Toronto: Dundurn.
• ——— (1996). Tom Thomson: A Sketchbook. Toronto: Golden Press.
• ——— (1998). Tom Thomson: Design for A Canadian Hero. Toronto: Dundurn.
• ——— (2002c). Flowers: J. E. H. MacDonald, Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. Toronto: McArthur & Co. ISBN 978-1552783269.
• ——— (2012). A Treasury of Tom Thomson. Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre.
• Poling, Jim (2003). Tom Thomson: The Life and Mysterious Death of the Famous Canadian Painter. Altitude Publishing.
• Reid, Dennis (1975). Tom Thomson, The Jack Pine. Masterpieces in the National Gallery of Canada. Vol. 5. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada.
• Saunders, A. (1947). Algonquin Story. Toronto: Department of Lands and Forests.
• Silcox, David (2002). Tom Thomson: An Introduction to His Life and Art. Firefly Books.
• Taylor, Geoff (2017). Tom Thomson's Last Bonfire. Burnstown Publishing House. ISBN 978-1772571592.
• Town, Harold (1965). "The Pathfinder". In Massey, Vincent (ed.). Great Canadians: Canadian Centennial Library. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.

Articles

• Bordo, Jonathan (1992–93). "Jack Pine: Wilderness Sublime or the Erasure of the Aboriginal Presence from the Canadian Landscape". Journal of Canadian Studies. 27 (4): 98–128.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
• Buchanan, Donald W. (August 1946). "Tom Thomson, Painter of the True North". Canadian Geographic Journal. 33 (2): 98–100.
• Cameron, Ross D. (1999). "Tom Thomson, Antimodernism, and the Ideal of Manhood". Journal of the Canadian Historical Association. 10: 185.
• Comfort, C. (Spring 1951). "Georgian Bay Legacy". Canadian Art. 8 (3): 106–9.
• Lismer, Arthur (1947). "Tom Thomson, 1877-1917: A Tribute to a Canadian Painter". Canadian Art. 5 (2): 59–62.
• MacDonald, J. E. H. (November 1917). "A Landmark of Canadian Art". The Rebel. 2 (2): 45–50.
• Machardy, Carolyn (1999). "An Inquiry into the Success of Tom Thomson's The West Wind". University of Toronto Quarterly. 68 (3): 768–89.
• Mortimer-Lamb, Harold (August 1919b). "Studio-Talk: Tom Thomson". The Studio. 77 (317): 119–26.
• Pringle, Gertrude (April 10, 1926). "Tom Thomson: The Man, Painter of the Wilds Was a Very Unique Individuality". Saturday Night. 41 (21): 5.
• Sharpe, Dr. Noble (June 1970). "The Canoe Lake Mystery". Canadian Society of Forensic Science. 3 (2): 34–40.

Newspaper stories

• "Pictures by Sydenham Boy Worth Seeing. Mr. Thomson's Pictures Show Decided Talent of Promising Talent". Owen Sound Sun. April 10, 1917.
• "Toronto Artist Missing in North". Globe. July 13, 1917.
• "Toronto Artist Drowns in North". Globe. July 18, 1917.
• "Tom Thomson's Aged Father Typifies Son's Rugged Scenes". Toronto Star. February 4, 1926.
• "Canoe Discovered by Boy in Lake is Believed to Be Tom Thomson's". Mail and Empire. August 9, 1930.
• Davies, Blodwen (August 9, 1930b). "Young Pirates Hunt Lake Artist's Canoe". Star Weekly.
• "Totem Pole Honors Tom Thomson's Ideal". Mail and Empire. August 18, 1930.
• "Bark Canoe Carries Memorial Flowers". Globe. August 19, 1930.
• Burgoyne, St. George (September 25, 1937). "Tom Thomson, Painter of the Wilds, Lost to Canadian Art 20 Years Ago". Montreal Gazette.
• Ghent, Percy (November 8, 1949). "Tom Thomson at Island Camp, Round Lake, November, 1915". Toronto Telegram.
• Davidson, T. Arthur (January 21, 1956). "Tom Thomson Grew to Manhood in Leith Area and Later Became Canada's Best Known Painter". Owen Sound Times.
• "Bones at Canoe Lake Not Those of Artist". Globe and Mail. October 19, 1956.
• Duval, Paul (May 6, 1961). "Tumbledown Shack—or Art Shrine?". Toronto Telegram.
• Grantham, Ronald (January 13, 1968). "Artist Suddenly Saw What Canada Is Like". Ottawa Citizen.
• "Morbid Curiosity Should Not Be Satisfied". Owen Sound Sun Times. February 4, 1969.

Films

• Hozer, Michèle (Director) and Peter Raymont (Producer) (2011). West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson (Filmstrip). Toronto: White Pine Pictures.
• Vaisbord, David (Director) (2005). Dark Pines: A Documentary Investigation into the Death of Tom Thomson (DV Cam, colour). Vancouver: Laughing Mountain Communications.

The Group of Seven and Canadian art

• Cole, Douglas (Summer 1978). "Artists, Patrons and Public: An Inquiry into the Success of the Group of Seven". Revue d'études canadiennes/Journal of Canadian Studies. 13: 69–78.
• Colgate, William (1943). Canadian Art: Its Origin and Development. Toronto: Ryerson Press.
• Davis, Ann (1992). The Logic of Ecstasy: Canadian Mystical Painting, 1920-1940. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
• Dawn, Leslie (2006). National Visions, National Blindness: Canadian Art and Identities in the 1920s. Vancouver: UBC Press.
• Duval, Paul (1972). Four Decades: The Canadian Group of Painters and Their Contemporaries, 1930-1970. Toronto: Clarke Irwin.
• ——— (1978). The Tangled Garden. Toronto: Cerebrus/Prentice-Hall.
• Eisenberg, Evan (1998). The Ecology of Eden. Toronto: Random House of Canada.
• Grace, Sherrill E. (2004b). Canada and the Idea of North. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
• Harper, J. Russell (1966). Painting in Canada: A History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
• Harris, Lawren (July 1926). "The Revelation of Art in Canada". Canadian Theosophist. 7: 85–88.
• ——— (October 1943). "The Function of Art". Art Gallery Bulletin [Vancouver Art Gallery]. 2: 2–3.
• ——— (1948). "The Group of Seven in Canadian History". Canadian Historical Association: Report of the Annual Meeting held at Victoria and Vancouver, 16-19 June 1948. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 28–38.
• Hill, Charles C. (1995). The Group of Seven: Art for a Nation. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada.
• Housser, F. B. (1926). A Canadian Art Movement: The Story of the Group of Seven. Toronto: Macmillan.
• Hubbard, R.H. (1963). The Development of Canadian Art. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada.
• Jackson, A. Y. (Summer 1957). "Box-car Days in Algoma 1919-20". Canadian Art. 14: 136–41.
• Larisey, Peter (1993). Light for a Cold Land. Toronto: Dundurn Press.
• MacDonald, J. E. H. (March 22, 1919). "The Canadian Spirit in Art". The Statesman. 35: 6–7.
• ——— (December 1919). "A.C.R. 10557". The Lamps: 33–39.
• MacDonald, Thoreau (1944). The Group of Seven. Toronto: Ryerson Press.
• MacTavish, Newton (1925). The Fine Arts in Canada. Toronto: Macmillan.
• Martinsen, Hanna (1984). "The Scandinavian Impact on the Group of Seven's Vision of the Canadian Landscape". Konsthistorisk Tidskrift. L111: 1–17.
• McInns, Graham C. (1950). Canadian Art. Toronto: Macmillan.
• Mellen, Peter (1970). The Group of Seven. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
• Murray, Joan (1984). The Best of the Group of Seven. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers.
• O'Brian, John; White, Peter, eds. (2007). Beyond Wilderness: The Group of Seven, Canadian Identity, and Contemporary Art. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
• Rosenblum, Robert (1975). Modern Painting and the Northern Romantic Tradition: Friedrich to Rothko. New York: Harper & Row.

External links

• Conservation Notes: Tom Thomson's 'The West Wind' (Ep 1) on YouTube
• Klages, Gregory (March 31, 2008). "Death on a Painted Lake: The Tom Thomson Tragedy". www.canadianmysteries.ca. Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
• Murray, Joan. "Tom Thomson Catalogue Raisonné | The Catalogue". tomthomsoncatalogue.org.
• ———. "Tom Thomson". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
• Restoring Tom Thomson's The Jack Pine on YouTube
• Silcox, David P. (2015). Tom Thomson: Life and Work. Toronto: Art Canada Institute. ISBN 978-1487100759.
• Smith, A. J. M. "The Lonely Land". www.poetryinvoice.com. Retrieved August 5, 2018. Reproduced from Smith, A. J. M. (1978). Classic Shade. McClelland & Stewart.
• "Tom Thomson". ago.ca. Art Gallery of Ontario.
• "Tom Thomson". www.gallery.ca. National Gallery of Canada.
• "Tom Thomson Art Gallery". www.tomthomson.org.
• Tom Thomson and the Group of 7 on YouTube