One of my favorite plein air artists is Tom Thomson, born August 5, 1877 in Claremont, Ontario, died July 8, 1917 in Algonquin Park, Ontario.A largely self-taught painter, Thomson first visited Algonquin Park in 1912. He roamed with friends around the wilderness of Canada, especially Ontario, capturing in broad brushstrokes its raw, natural beauty. His style has been compared with that of post-impressionists Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cezanne. He was a direct influence on the Group of Seven.
Thomson first exhibited with the Ontario Society of Artists in 1913 and became a member in 1914, when the National Gallery of Canada purchased one of his paintings. For several years he shared a studio and living quarters with other artists, before moving into a shack on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park. It was in Canoe Lake that Thomson drowned in 1917. (The drowning has been called accidental, but rumors abound that Thomson was murdered or took his own life.) Thomson's work has increased in popularity and value since his death. In 2002 the National Gallery of Canada staged a major Thomson exhibition.
I'm drawn to Thomson and his work. He personifies the plein air painter of my imagination -- trekking through the wilderness, maybe stopping to fish for lunch or pausing just to take in the air. And the paintings! Thomson's work is as straightforward and stark as the landscape he depicted. I find myself shooting to paint like him, if only I could -- his work is deceptively simple. Jack Pine, 1916, (above) is a prime example of his spare, rugged style. Hemingway in paint.Check out the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound, Canada, which maintains an excellent website:
Wow, and he died at 39. I can but wonder how his work was distributed throughout his lifetime, that is whether he might have had much more he could have done if only he had lived.
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