I used this painting "
Spring Sunset, Algonquin Park Spring 1916" (
above and
right side in the following graphic) to justify the Creative Scene Investigation interpretation of Tom Thomson's "
Sunset Spring 1916" (
left side in the following graphic). My conclusion was that "
Sunset Spring" was painted looking eastward at sunset using the Belt of Venus to augment the sunset colours. The shadow of the Earth and atmosphere contributed to the diagnosis. In sharp contrast "
Spring Sunset" was observed painting into the blazing sunlight beams straight from the sun - even though Tom did not include nor could he see the sun below the horizon.
The two words comprising the titles of both paintings are simply switched "dyslexically". Lawren Harris and J.E.H. MacDonald were running out of fresh ideas in the spring of 1918 as they shifted through the tall stack of unsigned Tom Thomson panels in the Studio Building. Either that or Tom just painted too many sunsets.
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Spring Sunset, Algonquin Park Spring 1916
Oil on composite wood-pulp board 8 9/16 x 10 9/16 in.
(21.7 x 26.9 cm)
Tom's Paint Box Size |
The Creative Scene Investigation initially focuses on the lighting and the colours. It suffices to conclude that Tom was looking toward the west after the sun had slipped below the western horizon.
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The orb of the sun was below the horizon to the west
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The purplish hue of the cirrus requires special attention. As mentioned it could simply be the scattering of blue light by the ice crystals. Large ice crystals scatter by the Mie principle which distributes all wavelengths mainly in a forward direction. But the short wavelength purple light was more likely scattered by small ice crystals thus invoking Rayleigh...
In fact, the purple was probably the result of Rayleigh scattering from very fine volcanic aerosols that reach the stratosphere. These molecular-sized particles are excellent Rayleigh scatterers sending short wavelength light efficiently in all directions. Recall that Lassen Peak in northern California exploded in a powerful eruption on May 22nd, 1915 - less than a year before Tom was painting this sunset. Scattered blue light when mixed with the red of the sunset produces the purple hues observed. It might even have been the purple hues in the upper atmosphere that drew Tom's interest to record what he saw!
The Creative Scene Investigation next focused on placing Tom's location within the weather pattern of the day.
The cloud and instability place Tom under the cyclonic companion of the warm conveyor belt. The thick and extensive comma head cloud was likely further north. Tom was actually looking into the dry slot of the comma pattern. Notice the breaks in the mid-level cloud deck further to the west. The winds displayed a southerly component that suggested that the warm front was nearby or to his north. The cold front was not far to the west.
In the early days of satellites (early 1980s), meteorologists were viewing comma cloud patterns for the first time from space. Those cloud patterns revealed the system relative winds and in turn deformation zones. They were the same patterns I saw when I was paddling my canoe.
I thrived meteorologically using Satellite Meteorology to better understand the weather patterns of the day. Those concepts led to the Conveyor Belt Conceptual Model and my tenure with
COMET teaching meteorology and creating online training modules for international students.
The terminology is still valid and I use it here to illustrate how we might better locate Tom's painting location in terms of the weather. It is likely that Tom was viewing the dry slot in the comma pattern to the west. I have placed the Gold Star locating Tom within the comma cloud pattern in the upper left of the following graphic. These are historical graphics constructed in support of my efforts to help fellow meteorologists within Environment Canada Weather Centres and with COMET. I sketched similar concepts countless times to coworkers at the various weather centres where I studied the weather.
The weather clues also place Tom fairly accurately within the Conveyor Belt Conceptual Model.
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Top-down view placing Tom's likely location within the
Conveyor Belt Conceptual Model looking toward the dry
slot of the Comma Cloud Pattern |
Both plein-air paintings were completed at about the same time in the spring of 1916. Tom was using the same Paint Box and his regular assortment of oils on his palette. I even suggest that Tom painted westward looking straight into the blinding light of the setting sun to paint "Spring Sunset" (this painting) immediately after recording "Sunset Spring 1916". I propose that Tom painted looking east and away from the sun first in order to save his eyes from the blinding sun that was perhaps still just above the horizon when he started. Tom was waiting for the sun to lower further. The shock to his eyes would be less when the sun had sunk further below the horizon.
The views are very different but they could have been painted literally back to back. In "Spring Sunset", the direct beam of sunlight was so intense that the backlit clouds were not optically thick enough to block the energy … the clouds were simply on fire from the bright Mie forward scattering of light.
A lake was to the east of Tom's location in "Sunset Spring" (left in the above graphic). This implies that there could be no lake to his west at that location unless he was on a sharp point of land or an island. This is consistent with no lake being evident in "Spring Sunset " (right in the above graphic) if these paintings were indeed completed at the same location. Tom loved to have lakes in his paintings even more than he enjoyed plein-air art at sunset. Uncharacteristically, Tom did not include a lake in "Spring Sunset ".
My Thomson friend suggested that the location of these views closely match those from a favourite campsite on Whitson Lake which is a widening of the Petawawa River. The "
North Branch Ranger Cabin" once occupied that campsite and a trail also ran through the location. The cabin was still there in the 1940s when they planned to string a
telephone line from the Achray Deputy's Headquarters on Grand Lake. The cabin was probably standing in 1916 and would have provided a convenient location for Tom to paint.
The above constraints are satisfied. The bright greens in Tom's painting suggest that it was completed in early summer when the vegetation was lush. Tom would have started his Forest Ranger job and been travelling the area with his coworker Ed Godin from their base at Achray. The details of their trips from the early summer of 1916 are unknown although they did canoe through the area that autumn.
The view looking westerly from the Whitson Lake campsite is quite convincing in its similarities to the terrain Tom painted looking into the light of the sunset. Those details are included in the next graphic.
The details of the terrain that Thomson painted are now cloaked by a rejuvenated forest. The similarities presented almost allow us to look over Tom's shoulder as he painted, inspired by the beauty of the weather and nature. Of course, we will never know for certain...
And now a look at the weather pattern that might have been overhead as Tom worked on these paintings. It is consistent that Tom painted looking easterly at location 1 of the mid-latitude synoptic scale weather system. In the time it took for him to complete the first painting, the system had moved northeasterly placing him at location 2 of the Conveyor Belt Conceptual Model. Tom then started to paint looking westerly into the dry slot of the comma pattern.
It is common for plein air painters to complete a work and then simply turn a few degrees to paint the next. The best way to not overwork a panel is to simply start a new one. Tom certainly did not over-work his art.
I can spend an entire day within a few square metres surrounded by nature. Several paintings, all different could be created during that plein-air painting session. If the weather is changing, an artist like Tom could easily knock off a half dozen panels in a morning. Tom certainly loved the weather!
Of course, no one can be certain whether these paintings were completed back to back as suggested. The suggestion is based solely on opportunity, probability, topography and science. But I do wish to present the possibility that they were. We will never know for sure but maybe it happened as I suggest. Tom did not have much time to paint in the spring of 1916 - even less than he started his job as a Forest Ranger. It is interesting as well that the names of the paintings are also nearly identical.
It is very unlikely that Lawren was with Tom when he completed this early summer painting. Lawren would have been at Camp Borden having received his commission on May 5th, 1916. Ed Godin, Tom's coworker was probably with him at Whitson Lake also watching the sunset. We will never know for certain.
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Patron Dr. James MacCallum funded the Thomson Estate Stamp which was designed by MacDonald
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"Spring Sunset, Algonquin Park Spring 1916" as it
would have appeared in Tom Thomson's Paint Box |
Inscription recto:
- l.l., estate stamp Inscription verso:
- c., estate stamp;
- u.c., in graphite, TT 70 Thomson Collection @ Art Gallery of Ontario
Provenance:
- Estate of the artist
- George Thomson, New Haven, Connecticut and Owen Sound, Ontario, 1935
- Laing Galleries, Toronto
- Private collection, Toronto
- Thomson Collection @ Art Gallery of Ontario
Remarks The board is primed with greyed pale coral (flesh tone) paint.
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| This painting went into the collection of Tom's oldest brother George |
This was indeed a challenging Creative Scene Investigation to complete but the findings are acceptable. Tom was painting looking into the dry slot of a weak and fast-moving early summer weather system from near the North Branch Ranger Cabin on Whitson Lake, a broad section of the Petawawa River. The purple colours high in the sky were due to very fine volcanic aerosols that reached the stratosphere from the volcanic eruption of Lassen Peak the year before.
To conclude, "Sunset Spring 1916" and this post "Spring Sunset, Algonquin Park Spring 1916" are both important parts of the same story - it would have resulted in one very long Blog. I believe Tom wished to record the differences in the appearance of the sunset depending on which direction one looks. He just did not write that story down or tell anyone about that fact… until now...
Thomson really did accurately paint what he saw. Any deficiency is simply in my ability to convincingly explain what he witnessed.
Warmest regards and keep your paddle in the water,
PSS: Should you wish to have Creative Scene Investigation applied to one of Thomson's works that I have not yet included in this Blog, please let me know. It may already be completed but not yet posted. In any event, I will move your request to the top of the list. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
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