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Brand New!! Ikon Canada: Tom Thomson Together With The Grouping Of 7 - Review

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Today I saw Tom Thomson's plein air paintbox.  I was at Painting Canada: Tom Thomson together with the Group of Seven which finishes at the Dulwich Picture Gallery on Lord's Day eighth Jan before going on its European Tour.  There's a piece of cake nighttime tomorrow nighttime (5th January)

This is an exhibition virtually a grouping of painters who were all determined to exhibit that it was possible to pigment the Canadian landscape together with do judge to some of the features which were regarded every bit unpaintable at the time.

I wrote virtually the exhibition dorsum inwards Oct - 'Painting Canada: Tom Thomson together with the Group of Seven' at Dulwich Picture Gallery.  That transportation explained which the exhibition is thus momentous together with thus I'm non going to repeat whatever of that inwards this transportation - salvage to say this is a in i lawsuit inwards a lifetime exhibition.

I'm non quite certain why it took me thus long to teach there, other than the fact that I e'er scream back I've got loads to a greater extent than fourth dimension to run into an exhibition plus it was at the Dulwich Picture Gallery which meant getting the satnav out!

Today at lunchtime in that location were queues of xxx minutes to brand it - AFTER tickets had been purchased (at to the lowest degree yous teach to hold off somewhere warm together with dry!).  It volition teach worse before it finishes.  You tin book tickets online.

This transportation volition give yous impressions of the exhibition and what yous teach from seeing the paintings upwards unopen which yous don't teach from images inwards books or websites.

This is also a fairly epitome heavy post.  I'll live doing some other i on The Art of the Landscape together with volition also live posting the sketches I did somewhere!


Tom Thomson (Tom Thomson 1877–1917) is regarded past times some every bit Canada's Van Gogh.  When I saw the paintings I realised why.  I had no thought that he loved pigment that much.   His paintings conduct maintain thick large lush brushmarks (think Tai Schierenberg - or Van Gogh!).  This is a human being who was a psyche of the i hitting negative painting.  He must conduct maintain also had truck loads of pigment inside him inwards the wilderness!

One of the things which struck me virtually Thomson's paintings is that he is a painter who created paintings which operate extremely good from a distance (good design, practiced tonal values/contrast) together with notwithstanding his paintings teach to a greater extent than interesting the closer yous teach because of his expressionistic brushstrokes - next the contours of his dependent area matter.  His sketches are also every bit interesting together with good designed every bit his lastly works.

In some of his larger plant he seemed to operate alongside a warp together with weft approach - horizontal thick slabs of paints for the heaven together with the H2O together with vertical slabs of pigment for the mountains together with the trees - alongside the colours together with tints real carefully worked out inwards advance.  The best representative of this approach is The Jack Pine.  Images inwards the books virtually Thomson do non ready yous for the extent to which this icon was sculpted.

I looked real closely at to a greater extent than than a few of the sketches - of which in that location are many inwards the exhibit - each i a trivial gem.  The approach on a issue of them seemed to live a reddish raw sienna Earth on which he thus lightly sketched the outlines of shapes - specially of the trees.  He thus used a brush loaded alongside actually lush pigment to pigment the shapes around the trees.  All his smaller plant were done on minor boards - normally 21cm x 27cm.

The fleck I don't sympathise is that some of the real heavily textured plant are described every bit existence on canvass together with notwithstanding I don't believe for i infinitesimal that these could ever conduct maintain been rolled because of the thickness of the paint.  I'm wondering if they were painted on canvass attached to a board.

Tom Thomson, Sketch for The West Wind, 
Tom Thomson, The West Wind, 1917, 
Oil on canvas, 120.7 x 137.2 cm, 
© Art Gallery of Ontario
Tom Thomson, Winter Thaw inwards the Woods, 1917, 
Oil on composite woodpulp board, 21.6 x 26.8 cm, 
Thomson Collection, AGO © Art Gallery of Ontario

Thomson is also a psyche colourist.  One of the huge benefits of this exhibition is that it showed yous finished operate side past times side to preparatory sketch (By July 1917, Thomson has produced some xxx finished plant together with some 300 sketches piece working inwards Algonquin Park).  From these i could easily run into the extent to which he brightened colours together with strengthened highlights to create a to a greater extent than dramatic contrast.  However this may live inwards utilisation because of the fact he painted alongside a real limited color palette when icon sketches plein air - normally some iv colours altogether.

(Incidentally I instantly sympathise the signal of Peter Doig's "White Canoe" together with which painter has influenced his agency of painting).

Nothing quite prepares yous for the colour.  The catalogue has done a practiced project alongside most of the paintings at getting a faithful reproduction of the colour.  However the brightness of some of the paintings is best conveyed inwards existent life eg Franklin Carmichael's Autumn Hillside positively vibrates on the wall.  I sat together with did a sketch of this i together with actually began to appreciate Carmichael's approach to composition together with colour.  Carmichael has been described every bit a "decorative painter" whereas I scream back of him instantly every bit a human being who actually enjoyed pattern together with colour.  I also loved his Grace Lake and October Gold which are both much to a greater extent than impressive when seen inwards person.

There were people inwards the gallery who had been to Canada proverb - but the trees actually are that color inwards Autumn!

Franklin Carmichael, Autumn Hillside, 1920, 
Oil on canvass 76 x 91.4cm, © Art Gallery of Ontario,
Gift from the J.S. McLean Collection, Toronto 
© Courtesy of the Estate of Franklin Carmichael

Lawren Harris's (Lawren Harris 1855–1970) paintings of snowfall together with H2O ice were quite surreal inwards terms of their  pale icy bluish together with turquoise colours.  I much preferred his minor sketches of trees done before he got to his abstracted phase.  Lots of marks together with no mixing of pigment on the board.

Lawren Harris, Trees together with Pool, c. 1920, 
Oil on panel, 26.7 x 35.6 cm, © Art Gallery of Ontario, 
© Family of Lawren S. Harris

Jim McDonald (J. E. H. MacDonald 1873–1932) appears to conduct maintain been an interesting bloke.  Hardly the rugged outdoor type he nonetheless travelled to pigment the Rockies together with became "mountain mad".  He seemed to me to grasp how to demonstrate the hugeness of the place.  However his before plant propose he was e'er a painter who was comfortable portaying vast vistas.

J. E. H. MacDonald, Lake O’Hara, 1929, 
Oil on canvas, 53.6 x 66.5 cm, 
The Thomson Collection © Art Gallery of Ontario
J. E. H. MacDonald, Falls, Montreal River, 1920, 
Oil on canvass 121.9 x 153 cm 
© Art Gallery of Ontario
I haven't included lift of all the artists or all the plant I liked. However in that location is an awful lot to similar virtually Canadian icon every bit represented inwards this exhibition.

In fact I'd teach thus far every bit to say I came away thinking that that it made some contemporary landscape icon I've seen inwards the lastly few years await real pedestrian. Let's non forget most of these paintings were also painted later on a fair aeroplane of attempt was made to attain the places they painted!

Entrance to the Current Exhibition (which includes entrance to the Permanent Collection) is every bit follows:
• Adults £9.00
• Senior Citizens £8.00
• Unemployed, disabled together with students £4 (valid pupil menu must live available)
• Art Fund members £4.00
• Free entry for children nether 18
• Free entry for Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery

Exhibition Blog

This is the exhibition blog inwards which Julian Beecroft posted during 2011 every bit he crossed Canada to places the painters visited

Exhibition App

The Gallery has produced a Guide to Painting Canada: Tom Thomson together with the Group of Seven as an iPhone/iPad app (this is the GB link).  It's a condensed together with summarised version.  You get to run into most - simply non all - the exhibits, the construction is the same every bit the exhibition together with in that location is also explanation of the  In the U.K. it costs £1.99 together with is real practiced value for money.  Highly recommended for those who would conduct maintain liked to run into the exhibition simply are unable to visit.  Used inwards the exhibition it acts every bit an explanation of the icon existence viewed.

Exhibition Catalogue
Exhibition Catalogue

The fully illustrated 216-page exhibition catalogue was published inwards the U.K. inwards the autumn.  Yesterday the catalogue for this exhibition Painting Canada: Tom Thomson together with the Group of Seven by Ian A.C. Dejardin, the Director of the Dulwich Picture Gallery, was also published inwards the USA

My initial impressions are real favourable.  It passed the acid exam of color reproduction - most of the paintings are faithful to the icon inwards existent life.  Not all are simply this volition live a employment of a photograph failing to homecoming the colours properly.
The catalogue tells of Tom Thomson together with the Group of Seven’s collective scream for to depict Canada inwards paint. It recounts their beginnings, the challenges they faced, together with the remarkable together with oft extreme journeys they undertook inwards search of novel dependent area matter. Essays past times curator Ian Dejardin together with co-curators Katerina Atanassova together with Anna Hudson explore diverse aspects of the Group of Seven’s practice, consider the artists’ human relationship alongside the Arctic north, together with analyse Thomson’s fine art through the prism of the prevalent scientific theories of the day. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 fresh, European perspective on the Canadians’ operate is offered inwards essays exploring their links alongside Scandinavian fine art together with European expressionism.
Available inwards paperback at a terms of £25 ($40). It is on sale online at dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

Exhibition Tour

This exhibition is also touring to 2 other European venues
Links to other reviews of this exhibition + a slideshow of epitome of some of the paintings
More Canadian Art

If yous similar Canadian landscape fine art together with paintings past times Tom Thomson together with the Group of Seven together with would similar to run into to a greater extent than of it conduct maintain a await at Canadian Art Calendars 2012

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