ALGONQUIN

Tom Thomson created some of his most iconic paintings, here, until his untimely demise

While Tom Thomson was not a member of the Group of Seven, it’s difficult to overstate his significance to the others. Harris wrote that Thomson was “as vital to the movement, as much a part of its formation and development, as any other member.” The Algonquin was Thomson’s playground, right up until his tragic drowning in Canoe Lake in July 1917.

Tom Thomson Aura Lee Lake 1916

(previous page)

Thomson first visited Algonquin Provincial Park in 1912, around the time he had just acquired sketching materials. He spent much of the trip canoeing, fishing and reading, occasionally painting a landscape or two. According to Jackson, who later shared a studio with him, Thomson did not think that “his work would ever be taken seriously; in fact, he used to chuckle over the idea.”

Tom Thomson Burned Over Land 1916

A distinctive feature of Thomson’s landscape paintings was his stylized depictions of trees, their unadorned limbs often askew, their sparse leaves or needles flurried by unseen gusts of wind. In the distance, often, his paint reached the far side of a lake, or valley, leaving the trees standing starkly in focus in the foreground.

Tom Thomson Islands, Canoe Lake 1916

Tom Thomson Spring in Algonquin Park 1917

Tom Thomson Winter: Sketch for In Algonquin Park 1914

Tom Thomson Tamaracks 1915