Tom Thomson

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Tom Thomson Life & Work by David P. Silcox Close inspection reveals how skillfully it is painted and how, at its core, it is almost an abstract work of art. In its thick application of paint and seemingly reckless brush strokes, the sketch is reminiscent of Pine Trees at Sunset, 1915. The order within it, however, foreshadows the “action” paintings of Willem de Kooning (1904–1997), while the freedom with which the paint begins to flow reminds us of the much later and larger canvases of Jackson Pollock (1912–1956). Painted at about the same time as First Snow in Autumn, the oil sketch Early Snow, Algonquin Park deals with the phenomenon of winter in quite different ways. It presents a forest scene (with a fallen tree providing a dramatic diagonal element) that is unusual and important because of the way it is painted. Pink light stretches across the snow in the foreground—a daring and unexpected colour made more prominent by the darker screen of trees that set it off. Grey-blue shadows join with the pink in forming a strong band across the foreground. To ensure that viewers accept these “unnatural” colours, Thomson used another odd colour—a flashy turquoise—for the sky. Cranberry Marsh 1916 Tom Thomson, Early Snow, Algonquin Park, 1916, oil on canvas mounted on wood panel, 22.2 x 26.7 cm, private collection. Thomson handled the challenge of combining a nocturne and a winter scene with a particular inventiveness in composition and an unorthodox colour palette 42
Tom Thomson Life & Work by David P. Silcox Cranberry Marsh 1916 Tom Thomson, Cranberry Marsh, 1916 Oil on wood panel, 21.9 x 27 cm National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa Like many of the oil sketches of 1916, Cranberry Marsh demonstrates a shift in Thomson’s manner of expression. This change had been emerging for some months and became pronounced after his early spring trip to the Cauchon Lake with Lawren Harris (1885–1970) and Dr. James MacCallum. Thomson’s artistic path was not always straight, but any consideration of his four hundred or more varied and energetic sketches as a group invites us to trace certain trends in his oeuvre. The normal landscape conventions begin to fade, his hues become more vibrant, and his compositions, while still recognizable as subjects, become battlefields for layers of closehued or clashing paint. 43
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Tom Thomson

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