Tom Thomson's The Rapids Spring 1917

If only Tom Thomson would have left a few notes! Anything would have helped. 

Ranger Mark Robinson and his son
Jack at Joe Lake Station circa 1915.
Jack would assist his Father in
the search for Tom Thomson
in  July 1917

Those who travelled with Tom would also likely have known these rapids and where they were located.  Mark Robinson, Tom's friend and Algonquin Park Ranger would certainly have been familiar with this vista. The location of those rapids was certain to be common knowledge which is no longer very common. This plein air sketch is a good illustration of the application of Creative Scene Investigation. But a century later there is not much to go on... the hills stay the same but the forest grows back and cloaks the details... 

The other motivation to include this work in "Tom Thomson Was A Weatherman" is that this painting went to his friend and painting buddy A. Y. Jackson. As A.Y.'s niece Dr. Naomi Jackson Groves related to Joan Murray in April 1971: "A.Y. Jackson said he chose this work after Thomson's death because he could never paint a river the way Thomson did." That statement reveals a lot about both of these giants in the Canadian art world. 

The Rapids Spring 1917
Oil on wood panel 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (21.6 x 26.7 cm)
Tom's Paint Box Size 

Tom did not travel far to paint that last spring. The ice of the waterways was dodgy at best because of the currents. There was not enough open water to paddle - at least not yet. Tom was staying at Mowat Lodge and was painting every day to record the arrival of spring. In a Taylor Statten interview with Tom's friend and Algonquin Park Ranger Mark Robinson in October 1956, Mark relayed a memory of a conversation that he had with Tom in May 1917: Tom said:

“You know, I have something unique in art that no other artist has ever attempted, I have a record of the weather for 62 days, rain or shine, or snow, dark or bright, I have a record of the day in a sketch. I’d like to hang them around the walls of your cabin here.” 

"The Spring Rapids" was surely one of those sixty-two panels. 

Knowledge of the exact location is very important and something I do not have. Perhaps someone will have that information and be able to share it but until that time, let's glean as much as we can from the details that Tom painted into his weather observation and see where it leads. 

The location of the sun as revealed by the shadows are the only clues we have except for the front-lit cumulus clouds. I typically find it helpful to correlate the geometry of what we know and orient those for the possible times of the day. 

If this observation is a mid-morning plein air effort, the following graphic summarizes the known facts. Note the colour of the lighting was not skewed to either sunrise (yellow) or sunset (red).  The fact that there were significant shadows bespeaks that it was not solar noon. A mid-morning painting requires that Tom was looking east to northeasterly.

 

If this observation was painted in the mid-afternoon, the following graphic applies. An afternoon plein air painting requires Tom to be looking south-easterly more or less. 

Tom Thomson was likely looking
       northeasterly in the mid to late morning   
to record his weather observation.

If we combine the geometry of the two above options with the geography of the area around Mowat Lodge, there would appear to be only one possibility. Both Potter and Joe Creeks flow southward into Canoe Lake. Only the orientation of a morning painting session satisfies that constraint. Perhaps Tom was looking northeasterly across Joe Creek just downstream from Joe Lake Dam. The other location would be just south of Canoe Lake Station but the orientation of any fast water to be found there does not work with the direction of the shadows. Someone with more intimate knowledge of the area might hold that answer. 

My CSI estimate would be mid to late morning for the timing of this plein air work. Tom was looking in an easterly to northeasterly direction across the rapid downstream from Joe Lake Dam. 

Gilmour Road 

My Thomson friend also suggested rapids along the Oxtongue River downstream from Tea Lake Dam as possible locations for this painting. The Gilmour lumber company built a road from their headquarters in Dorset all the way to a supply depot they established near the outlet of Tea Lake to supply their camps farther into the Park.  The road was extended all the way to their mill on Canoe Lake. Tom could have hiked this road even if Canoe Lake was still iced in. Mowat Lodge to Tea Lake Dam is about 5 kilometres and a reasonable walk for a fit person accustomed to walking in the bush. The orientation of the Oxtongue River provides a score of more possibilities for the painting site given the above constraints. The question is did Tom make that spring walk down Gilmour Road. Always open to positive suggestions!

The back story of these Creative Scene Investigations is from when I was a meteorologist with Environment Canada. I used to travel quite a lot teaching meteorology with international colleagues. I would arrive early at the airports as a contingency for the probable travel challenges and a precaution against never being late. I never missed a flight. There was typically significant time to ponder the questions of the day. Sometimes I would reflect on a particular painting by Tom Thomson and what he might be saying with his brush strokes. There was never a moment to waste and those opportunities created material for the "Tom Thomson Was A Weatherman" presentations which I had started doing in the mid-1980s. 

           The Rapids Spring 1917 as it would have       
appeared in Tom Thomson's paint box. 

Inscription verso: 

• u.l., in graphite, 42; 
• u.l., in ink, OWNED BY A.Y. JACKSON (underneath in graphite, A.Y. JACKSON); 
• u.c., in graphite, Reserved Studio Bldg. L.S. Harris (circled); 
• u.r., in graphite 25 SE(VERN ST?) / TORONTO; 
• u.r., in red pencil, T.12 / A.Y. Jackson / Toronto; 
• c.r., in ink, "THE RAPIDS;
• " c., in ink or black paint, S.B.; 
• l.c., PAINTED BY / TOM THOMSON / PROBABLY IN THE SPRING OF 1917; 
• l.l., label, AGT Dec. 31/40 A.Y. Jackson Private Collection, Toronto

Provenance

• Estate of the artist Elizabeth Thomson Harkness, Annan and Owen Sound 
• A.Y. Jackson, Toronto 
• Dr. Naomi Jackson Groves, Ottawa, 1945 
• Private Collection, Toronto

     Note the photo of A.Y. Jackson at work on a sketch      
projected behind Naomi Jackson Groves in this
presentation of "The Art and The Man"

The name "Dr. Naomi Jackson Groves" in the provenance is also prominent in Canada as a painter, art historian and linguist. Naomi wrote a series of books about her uncle, Group of Seven artist  A. Y. Jackson. Naomi Groves (1910-2001) was the daughter of artist H. A. C. Jackson (1877- 1961) who was the older brother of  A. Y. Jackson (1882-1974).  Naomi's art shows the influence of her famous uncle. The Jackson family contributed much to Canadian society. 

Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick

PS: Tom Thomson Was A Weatherman - Summary As of Now contains all of the entries to date.