Tom Thomson

Tom Thomson
Life & Work by David P. Silcox
Thomson’s death was entirely
unexpected. The weather that day was pleasant,
and by 1917 Thomson had become a proficient
canoeist who knew enough to handle himself
safely. Despite his periods of doubt and
melancholy, he was at the pinnacle of his career.
He must have been uncertain at times because
of his meteoric rise as an artist in just over
four years, but there was no indication that he
ever considered suicide. Nothing about the
condition of his body suggested that he had
taken his own life.
On the morning of July 8, Thomson was
seen walking with Shannon Fraser, the owner of
Mowat Lodge, and later heading off across
Canoe Lake in his canoe. There were no reports
Tom Thomson in a canoe he painted dove grey, 1912
of anyone following him, so the rumours of murder always seem to focus on the night
before he was last seen. At the time no one mentioned the possibility of his having been
in a fight that night or of the cut on his forehead causing his death.
The simplest explanation is therefore likely the correct one—that Thomson stood
up in his canoe, lost his balance, and fell. He hit his forehead on the gunwale in the
process, knocked himself out, and slipped into the water, where he drowned—as the
coroner’s report confirmed. However, Roy MacGregor in his 2010 book Northern Light:
The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson and the Woman Who Loved Him notes that he
has uncovered additional information, including forensic evidence based on the skull
found in what he considers Thomson’s grave overlooking Canoe Lake, that suggests
Thomson may have been murdered. His research will need to be considered by any of
Thomson’s future biographers.
Regardless, what remains is not a mystery but a rich legacy, full of abiding
meaning and satisfying pleasure for everyone who looks at the paintings. They, rather
than vacuous speculation about the manner of his death, are the objects Thomson
would want viewers to study and enjoy. Of all the recent representations of Thomson in
words and in art, perhaps the canvases Swamped, 1990, and White Canoe, 1990–91,
by the renowned painter Peter Doig (b. 1959), best capture the myth and the mystery.
Here Doig, who spent his childhood and youth in Canada, alludes to the iconic 1914
photograph of Thomson sketching from his canoe, except that, in his images, the ghostly
white canoe is empty.
Peter Doig, White Canoe, 1990–91, oil on canvas,
200.5 x 243 cm, private collection. Doig used a
source photo of Thomson sketching in his canoe
for this painting
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