Tom Thomson
Today, we start our new partnership with the McMichael Canadian Art Collection from Kleinburg, Canada. For the next four Sundays, we will present beautiful landscapes from their collection. need to tell you: these works created by Canadian artists are amazing! Like today's Tom Thomson: look at these colors!
Tom Thomson remains one of Canada's most enigmatic artists, and his life, tragically cut short, is shrouded in both myth and mystery. Taciturn and moody yet charismatic and stylish, he was an outdoorsman who donned silk shirts and fashionable hats when in town, attracting admirers yet never settling down. His death in 1917, an apparent canoeing accident on a calm lake, has fueled conspiracy theories for over a century, often overshadowing the brilliance of his art.
Smoke Lake is one of over 500 oil sketches Thomson produced during his brief but prolific career. This small painting, just over 21 x 26 cm (around 8" x 10"), showcases his profound connection to the Canadian wilderness. Using a portable painting box, Thomson would canoe, camp, and fish in Ontario’s Algonquin Park, capturing fleeting moments of nature with bold, expressive brushstrokes. These sketches, created en plein air, were the raw results of his direct engagement with land and water. Thomson’s genius lay in his ability to distill the wild beauty of the Canadian wilderness into small, powerful sketches like Smoke Lake. These were not mere studies but vital, energetic works in their own right. The sketches allowed him to translate the immediacy of nature into the paint, capturing the ever-changing light and weather conditions in real time. In these smaller works, like Smoke Lake, we see Thomson at his most vital—inviting us to experience the landscape through his eyes, in all its rugged, untouched beauty. While much of Thomson’s life remains elusive, what endures is his art. His ability to evoke the grandeur of the Canadian wilderness in just a few brushstrokes has made him a national icon, inspiring generations of artists and solidifying his place in the Canadian cultural imagination.
P.S. What would you say if you had such atmospheric paintings to accompany you in the adventures of 2025? Check out our beautiful 2025 Wall Calendar. :)
P.P.S. The McMichael Canadian Art Collection holds some trully outstanding artworks. We've asked their team for a list of their favorite! Here are the McMichael staff picks! And if you are interested in today's artwork, we encourage you to explore Tom Thomson's beautiful landscapes.