Tom Thomson's Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park, 1915

J.E.H. MacDonald and Lawren Harris met in the Studio Building in the spring of 1918. Tom's paintings from the Shack had been stacked in the Studio Building. Harris and MacDonald planned to sort through Tom's art, make comments on the back and distribute what they felt were the best examples of his genius.  "Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park, 1915" was one of those panels and displays the distinctive "TT Estate Stamp". They were correct about the quality of the art but there is a story they apparently missed. This was an early spring painting!

Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park
Alternate title: Canoe Lake Summer 1915
Oil on composite wood-pulp board 8 9/16 x 10 9/16 in.
(21.8 x 26.9 cm). Tom's Paint Box Size

Canoe Lake was correctly identified in the title but that fact can also be verified by Creative Scene Investigation (CSI). Tom did not have to travel far to find something inspirational to paint. This view is only a short stroll from the front porch of Mowat Lodge to the western shore of Canoe Lake. The sun was rising in the eastern sky and terrain features of the eastern shore of Canoe Lake can be readily identified on Tom's panel. 

After location, the next important factor to decipher in CSI is time. When was Tom making this observation? The illumination of the scene can only be explained by an early morning time frame perhaps a couple of hours after dawn. Please let me explain. 

The rich hues of early morning light illuminating the clouds are orange as contrasted with the blues of mid-morning. The sunlight had already been filtered by Rayleigh scattering removing the blue wavelengths from the direct beam. The sunlight was still passing through a significantly long path of the Earth's atmosphere but had risen enough to touch the tops of the convective cloud elements. The blue evident through the gap in the clouds is the result of Rayleigh scattering from atmospheric molecules higher in the sky.

The clouds can also verify this timing. An arrow that connects the dark base of one of the convective elements with the bright cloud top of the same cloud must point toward the sun. My COMET coworkers could easily make a three-dimensional arrow that would make this fact come alive but I must ask you to use your imagination. The sun was somewhere to the upper right of the panel and either hidden by clouds or beyond the panel itself -probably the latter. 

The sky was full of streets of turbulent stratocumulus (SC). In fact, the horizon appeared to be overcast with clouds as the lines merge. The individual cumulus elements reveal a component of the wind from right to left which must be southerly. What Tom could not paint was the component of wind coming directly toward him. Turbulent stratocumulus develops in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) of the atmosphere and must align parallel to the wind direction. The process is similar to oceanic Langmuir Streaks where helical circulations interact creating areas of ascent separated by bands of descent. If the PBL of the atmosphere is somewhat unstable, streets of stratocumulus develop in the ascending bands. Bands of clear clear skies separate the cloudy streets in the areas of descent. 

Streets of stratocumulus (SC) are very common and can tell a lot about the weather situation.  Tom was a remarkable observer of reality and included subtle cloud features even in what appeared to be bold and brash brush strokes. Tom’s paintings are as accurately detailed as the photo of reality. I happened to take a photo of a similar situation that also includes the subtleties that Tom painted. 

Turbulent stratocumulus (SC) without significant mid or high cloud associated is typically located in two sectors of a mid-latitude weather system. The first is the situation where Tom was painting that early morning of 1915. The high-pressure centre had just passed to the east. The airmass would be unstable in the low level with plenty of sunshine. The low-level flow would be drawn into the warm conveyor belt of the next approaching weather system. Streets of turbulent stratocumulus would align with the southeasterly winds. As the warm conveyor belt nears, the streets of SC must veer to blow from the south and the probability of mid and high clouds associated with the WCB also increases. 

The second location for turbulent stratocumulus (SC) is behind the cold front after the system has passed. Those winds would be westerly to northwesterly in direction and associated with the advection of cold air across the region. 

Deviation from the suggested location at number 2 toward the north increases the probability of "hang-back" mid and high-level clouds in the comma head of the weather pattern. Deviation toward the south enters the anticyclonic companion of the descending dry conveyor belt (DCB). The air becomes increasingly drier and descends even in the planetary boundary level (PBL). Cloud is less likely. 

Nature also provided some other very important clues in this painting. 

Aspen are the first trees to pioneer such a ravaged environment as was the case around Canoe Lake after the Gilmour Lumber Company failed. The trembling aspen that stood on the edge of Canoe Lake were sprouting their spring catkins. Aspen actually spread fastest from their roots but still produce seeds and white silky stands for reproduction. Those white splotches on the eastern shore and up the hillside were actually the early spring catkins from the trembling aspen. These trees that find a foothold after clearcutting were also described in "Spring, Algonquin Park, Spring 1916". Catkins emerge in early April in Algonquin Park clearly suggesting that the alternate title mentioning "summer" was misguided. 

The accompanying photo shows a stand of ghostly white trembling aspen in late April on the shore of the Ottawa River. The trees are very similar to what Tom would have witnessed at Canoe Lake in mid-April and what he also painted in "Spring, Algonquin Park, Spring 1916" (inset image). The seasons are more advanced to the southwest explaining the budding of the catkins a couple of weeks earlier at Mowat Lodge on Canoe Lake.  

All that glitters is not gold and all that is white is not snow. Those vertical brush strokes of white certainly can't be snow! They were the early April catkins of trembling aspen also called the 'mother-in-law's tongue' tree since the slightest breeze sets the leaves to quivering - but that is another story. 

Finally, the wave action across the north basin of Canoe Lake also confirms the south-easterly winds. There were no obvious white caps on the sheltered eastern side of the lake. The waves gradually increase in amplitude with the fetch across the lake. The waves build in size until the wind reaches 30 kmh which is sufficient to blow them over creating the bubbly foam of white caps. 

                                                                                  

The colours that Tom selected for the mid-lake area appear to reflect the cloud bases in the early morning light. Tom would have had the colour mixed on his palette so it would have been an easy observation to brush in. 

Tom's brushwork on this panel was characteristically bold. He dragged brushes loaded with oils into areas he had already touched, mixing the colours as his brush progressed across the panel. One stroke is highlighted in the graphic. Other strokes swirl and scribble the pigments around in turbulent eddies reflecting the dynamics of the clouds. The swath of blue sky that separates streets of turbulent stratocumulus even exhibits vigorous brushwork as he covered the panel with oils. 

Harris and MacDonald made a great effort to establish the reputation of their friend in the international art scene. Without their dedication, Tom might have easily remained unknown and ignored as so many artists endure. They made some errors in naming, locating and dating Tom's towering stack of panels. That is completely understandable. They were probably also saddened when the "TT Estate Stamp" caused some paint to flake off the wooden panels. Tom could have assisted greatly if he had only signed his art and included just a few details about his motivation to record those particular moments in nature. 

Patron Dr. James MacCallum funded the Thomson Estate Stamp which was designed by MacDonald

Canoe Lake, Algonquin Park, 1915
as it would have appeared in
Tom Thomson's Paint Box

Inscription verso: 

• c., estate stamp; in ink, Painted in 1915; 
• u.m., in graphite, TT 73; 
• label, Laing Art Galleries, Toronto as Canoe Lake; 
• below label, No. 118 Mrs. Harkness Thomson Collection @ Art Gallery of Ontario 

Provenance:

• Elizabeth Thomson Harkness, Annan and Owen Sound;
• Dr. G.H. Henderson, Halifax, 1939;
• Laing Galleries, Toronto;
• Private collection, Toronto;
• Thomson Collection @ Art Gallery of Ontario

This painting went to Tom's older sister "Lizzie", Elisabeth (Elizabeth) Harkness (abt. 1870 - 1934). After Lizzie passed, the art went to Halifax but eventually back to Toronto and the AGO where I saw it. 

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. 

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!