TOM THOMSON (Canadian, 1877-1917) “VIEW OF ALGONQUIN PARK”.

Oil on panel Housed in a modern frame Unsigned Dated and titled on a Dr. James MacCallum label affixed to verso, c. 1915 Note: Bonhams catalog entry for May 20th, 2015 lot 68, included a letter & information regarding this painting as follows: When Dr. James Metcalfe MacCallum (1860-1943), an ophthalmologist at the University of Toronto, met Tom Thomson in October 1912, he offered to pay his expenses for a year if he agreed to paint full time. Thomson, then thirty-five, was wary of the offer, since he doubted his own ability to do what was being asked and of giving up his satisfying job as a commercial artist. At Grip Limited, which he had joined in 1909, he met a feisty and ambitious group of artists – J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Fred Varley, Frank Carmichael, Frank Johnston, all to become members of the Group of Seven in 1920. He had also met A.Y. Jackson. Lawren Harris, who had probably advised MacCallum, saw great potential in Thomson, as did MacDonald. Thomson accepted MacCallum’s offer, and by the end of the year he was addicted to painting. As a commercial artist he was ‘the best letterman in Canada’ according to his colleagues; as a painter of landscape, however, he was an uncertain amateur with a lot to learn. Between 1913 and July 8, 1917, when he drowned in Canoe Lake, Thomson accelerated into a brilliant, original, and highly productive artist, leagues ahead of his friends. He produced over four hundred small oil sketches and a couple of dozen canvases that included enduring images that have defined Canada in the imagination of generations over the past century. Thomson’s achievement, in a span of four and half years, is, as MacCallum liked to say, ‘An Encyclopedia of the North.’ He tried to register as much of the phenomena of Algonquin Park as he could, and once said he wanted to paint a sort of diary of spring one oil sketch every day.He was acknowledged by all to be a great colourist, his palette offering up colours created in his now hyper-active brain. He painted blood-red sunsets, ominous storms, wild flowers, charging rapids, waterfalls, lightening, rainbows, and clouds of every shape and kind. He found his subjects close at hand, while his friends trekked off looking for dramatic cliffs or grand vistas. What was extraordinary about Thomson was his concentrated way of seeing–Wiliam Blake’s kind of vision, which made the ordinary extraordinary.This painting by Thomson has three distinct features. The support (mahogany veneer) I haven’t seen used before. However, Thomson painted his small oil sketches on many different supports–illustration board, wood panels, composite wood-pulp board, canvas-textured paper mounted on wood, plywood, silk, and occasional cigar box lids. Given this range of materials, mahogany isn’t out of place. The label on the verso is also new to me. MacCallum was Thomson’s companion on many canoe trips, a buyer of several dozen paintings, the guardian of his work after he died, and his staunchest supporter; a work associated through a friend of MacCallum’s is a mark in its favour. The size (10 × 13 1/2in) is not Thomson’s most-often-used 8 1/2 × 10 1/2in, but his sizes vary; he used whatever was handy. MacCallum’s date (c. 1915) is comfortable with other paintings done then.The painting has many of the hallmarks of Thomson’s work over his too brief career. What strikes me is the complexity and density packed into this tiny rectangle and the high volume of information in it. The recession and scale in the painting is faultless; the shadows, raking diagonally across the foreground, are a variation of a motif Thomson used in all seasons and in many different lights–early morning, high noon, evening, and at night. His distinct way of depicting the sky seen through the trees, and his treatment of leafy branches can also be seen in paintings like Evening, Canoe Lake or the earlier Big Elm; his clever handling of tree trunks is like his fingerprint or his signature. The painter David Milne wrote his patron, who wanted works dated and signed: “Dates, useful, signatures not of much importance, pictures are supposed to be signatures.” Thomson’s paintings are all ‘signatures’ of his acute vision of the North.David P. Silcox, C.M.Massey College, Toronto”. A copy of this letter does not accompany this painting SIZE: 10″ x 13-3/4″. Overall: 11-1/2″ x 15-1/4″ PROVENANCE: Dr. James M. MacCallum, Canada. Private collection, Canada and Florida. Estate of the above. CONDITION: Very good 50593-9 (75,000-125,000) – Lot 1104

Auction: Fine Art, Asian & Antique Auction - August 2016

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	1104	$0.00	TOM THOMSON (Canadian, 1877-1917) “VIEW OF ALGONQUIN PARK”. Oil on panel Housed in a modern frame Unsigned Dated and titled on a Dr. James MacCallum label affixed to verso, c. 1915 Note: Bonhams catalog entry for May 20th, 2015 lot 68, included a letter & information regarding this painting as follows: When Dr. James Metcalfe MacCallum (1860-1943), an ophthalmologist at the University of Toronto, met Tom Thomson in October 1912, he offered to pay his expenses for a year if he agreed to paint full time. Thomson, then thirty-five, was wary of the offer, since he doubted his own ability to do what was being asked and of giving up his satisfying job as a commercial artist. At Grip Limited, which he had joined in 1909, he met a feisty and ambitious group of artists – J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Fred Varley, Frank Carmichael, Frank Johnston, all to become members of the Group of Seven in 1920. He had also met A.Y. Jackson. Lawren Harris, who had probably advised MacCallum, saw great potential in Thomson, as did MacDonald. Thomson accepted MacCallum’s offer, and by the end of the year he was addicted to painting. As a commercial artist he was ‘the best letterman in Canada’ according to his colleagues; as a painter of landscape, however, he was an uncertain amateur with a lot to learn. Between 1913 and July 8, 1917, when he drowned in Canoe Lake, Thomson accelerated into a brilliant, original, and highly productive artist, leagues ahead of his friends. He produced over four hundred small oil sketches and a couple of dozen canvases that included enduring images that have defined Canada in the imagination of generations over the past century. Thomson’s achievement, in a span of four and half years, is, as MacCallum liked to say, ‘An Encyclopedia of the North.’ He tried to register as much of the phenomena of Algonquin Park as he could, and once said he wanted to paint a sort of diary of spring one oil sketch every day.He was acknowledged by all to be a great colourist, his palette offering up colours created in his now hyper-active brain. He painted blood-red sunsets, ominous storms, wild flowers, charging rapids, waterfalls, lightening, rainbows, and clouds of every shape and kind. He found his subjects close at hand, while his friends trekked off looking for dramatic cliffs or grand vistas. What was extraordinary about Thomson was his concentrated way of seeing–Wiliam Blake’s kind of vision, which made the ordinary extraordinary.This painting by Thomson has three distinct features. The support (mahogany veneer) I haven’t seen used before. However, Thomson painted his small oil sketches on many different supports–illustration board, wood panels, composite wood-pulp board, canvas-textured paper mounted on wood, plywood, silk, and occasional cigar box lids. Given this range of materials, mahogany isn’t out of place. The label on the verso is also new to me. MacCallum was Thomson’s companion on many canoe trips, a buyer of several dozen paintings, the guardian of his work after he died, and his staunchest supporter; a work associated through a friend of MacCallum’s is a mark in its favour. The size (10 × 13 1/2in) is not Thomson’s most-often-used 8 1/2 × 10 1/2in, but his sizes vary; he used whatever was handy. MacCallum’s date (c. 1915) is comfortable with other paintings done then.The painting has many of the hallmarks of Thomson’s work over his too brief career. What strikes me is the complexity and density packed into this tiny rectangle and the high volume of information in it. The recession and scale in the painting is faultless; the shadows, raking diagonally across the foreground, are a variation of a motif Thomson used in all seasons and in many different lights–early morning, high noon, evening, and at night. His distinct way of depicting the sky seen through the trees, and his treatment of leafy branches can also be seen in paintings like Evening, Canoe Lake or the earlier Big Elm; his clever handling of tree trunks is like his fingerprint or his signature. The painter David Milne wrote his patron, who wanted works dated and signed: “Dates, useful, signatures not of much importance, pictures are supposed to be signatures.” Thomson’s paintings are all ‘signatures’ of his acute vision of the North.David P. Silcox, C.M.Massey College, Toronto”. A copy of this letter does not accompany this painting SIZE: 10″ x 13-3/4″. Overall: 11-1/2″ x 15-1/4″ PROVENANCE: Dr. James M. MacCallum, Canada. Private collection, Canada and Florida. Estate of the above. CONDITION: Very good 50593-9 (75,000-125,000) – Lot 1104 Auction: Fine Art, Asian & Antique Auction - August 2016 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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TOM THOMSON (Canadian, 1877-1917) “VIEW OF ALGONQUIN PARK”.