Tom Thomson

Tom Thomson
Life & Work by David P. Silcox
swamp water in Cranberry Marsh, a yellowish-green arc in the sky above a violent red
sunset in Sunset, 1915. Thomson’s control of colour is exceptional, a mark of his
growing success and confidence. Moreover, his colours and his brushwork are instantly
recognizable and as personal as a fingerprint, regardless of the subject or the season
he tackles.
In the majority of his sketches, Thomson uses fairly short, energetic, and abrupt
strokes, with a few gentle arcs added as final touches. The direction of his brush is
expressive: in The Pointers, 1916–17, the strokes are mostly horizontal in the water and
the sky, but vertical on the hills. By the last year of his life, however, Thomson was
punching his colours onto his panels in all directions with a vigorous brush, as in his
sketch After the Storm, 1917. This aggressive but intense kind of painting is indicative of
Thomson’s transition from illustration or representation to a form of expression that was
starting to border on Abstract Expressionism. But, like David Milne (1881–1953), Emily
Carr (1871–1945), and others of his generation, Thomson didn’t advance far enough to
relinquish representation entirely, even though he was moving in that direction.
Tom Thomson, Tea Lake Dam, 1917, oil on wood panel, 21.3 x 26.2 cm, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario. With effective brushstrokes, Thomson captures
the buildup of storm clouds above as the waters of the Muskoka River flow over the chute in the spring
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