Tom Thomson's View from the Top of a Hill 1916

A century can bring a lot of change to the landscape. The 1800s were characterized by extensive

clearcutting in the Algonquin forest, destroying habitats that took eons to build.

Historic Algonquin Park Map showing the additions
over the past century

In response, Algonquin Park – the oldest provincial park in Canada – was established in 1893. Its mandate was to preserve those habitats and the species in them that were threatened. Over the past century, Algonquin Park has expanded to cover 7,653 square kilometres (2,955 sq mi). The park is a treasure enjoyed by more than 800,000 visitors a year. 

The “view from the top of the hill” certainly looked very different back in 1916 when Thomson sat on that bare, rocky hilltop. In the intervening years, the trees have recovered, thus hiding some of the features Tom observed. Natural habitats take even longer to recover. The logging industry continues in about 40 percent of  Algonquin. The park was established not to stop logging but to establish a wildlife sanctuary. Agriculture was also excluded to protect the headwaters of the five major rivers which flow from the Park. 

The world has also changed in many other ways in the last century. The World Wide Web became available to the public in 1993 followed by Google in 1998.  These tools just keep getting better and have become essential in modern society. As a result Creative Scene Investigation often begins with a simple "Google Search" allowing these blogs to build on the knowledge of experts who have worked on similar questions before. The contributions of these experts are essential and always recognized in these blogs. We can learn so much more by working positively together... but I digress... again.

The loggers and the rangers of Algonquin Park did not know what to make of Tom Thomson and his friends when the artists arrived in 1912. Little did they know that the work of these creative souls would brand Algonquin Park. Tom was unable to make much of a living as an artist so he became a fire ranger stationed at Achray on Grand Lake in 1916. Tom complained of not painting much that summer as he worked with his partner Ed Godin, an Algonquin Park Ranger. 

In a letter to Dr. James MacCallum dated October 4th, 1916 and sent from Basin Depot. Tom wrote:

"Have done very little sketching this summer as I find that the two jobs don't fit in. It would be great for two artists or whatever you call us but the natives can't see what we paint for. A photo would be great but the painted things are awuful [sic]. When we are travelling two go together one for the canoe and the other the pack and there's no place for a sketch outfit when your fireranging.

We are not fired yet but I am hoping to be put off right away." 

Tom did generate a good number of excellent sketches, many of which have become real classics. "View from the Top of a Hill " was one of those to be found on the flip side of the "Yellow Sunset" masterpiece. What was Tom pondering while he brushed oils on that panel? Only a few spindly, stunted birches and maples were left on that hilltop.

View from the Top of a Hill 1916
Oil on wood 8 3/8 x 10 1/2 in. (21.3 x 26.7 cm)
Tom's Paint Box Size
Verso to 1916.37

A Google search of "View from the Top of a Hill" leads directly to "Climbing the Big Hill across from Achray on Grand Lake, In search of Tom Thomson". The McElroys come to the rescue again! (Also see "The McElroys to the rescue - Tom Thomson's Petawawa Gorges; Night 1916") 

"Climbing the Big Hill across from Achray on Grand Lake" reveals how tenacious Thomson enthusiasts can be when on the trail of a painting location. Diana and Bob McElroy have become Thomson experts over their years of paddling and hiking in Algonquin Park. They are especially knowledgeable about Thomson's works from 1916 when he worked around Grand Lake. The following information is gleaned from their post and used with permission. 

Diana and Bob McElroy had come across this lesser-known Thomson painting and thought that the three lakes depicted were Grand Lake, Stratton Lake and Johnston Lake. The best location to view those bodies of water was from the big hill across from Achray on Grand Lake. Paddles in the water and boots on the ground are required to access the location where Tom sat! There was no established trail up that hill so it would be bushwhacking all the way. 

They speculated that a trail might have been associated with the old tote road that ran from Grand Lake to the Spectacle Lakes and then south to Basin Depot. Thomson travelled that route regularly on his mail runs to Basin Depot. The double-headed, pale white arrow in the above graphic highlights that route. The top of the big hill could have been just a detour off that trail. As well, Thomson's duties as a fire ranger would probably have taken him regularly to the top of that hill, and others, for a look around in search of smoke from fires. There could have been a path in 1916 but where was it in 2014?

The top of the southeast face of the big hill was surmised to be the painting location. That face is steep and very rugged. The 2014 image to the right depicts the typical struggling vegetation and rocky landscape probably unchanged since 1916 when Thomson climbed those slopes. The likely path to the top started on the northeast side of the hill (near a currently established campsite).

The "big hill" is central to this story. A photo from the Park archives below looking across Grand Lake in 1933 shows a lot of bare rock and not much soil looking similar to a 2014 photograph taken from the Out Side Inn at Achray. 

The McElroys comment:

"The skyline of that big hill has changed very little in the last nearly 100 years - shorter trees of various sizes, with a few taller white pines poking up above.  The ground there is mainly solid rock, with a few pockets of organic soil built up slowly over the time since the last ice age.  Most of the vegetation is the kind that can tolerate dry conditions and poor soil.  The trees are mostly rather stunted and just hanging on.  I suspect a lot of them are older than their size might suggest.  There are a lot of very sparse areas on the slope, some bare rock, some grass, low bushes, etc.  It really isn't all that hard to climb to the view that Tom saw - the main problem is knowing that you have to go over the 'peak' and down a bit to get to the spot." 

The McElroys comment:

"Anyway, I would guess that there never was very much prime timber on the hill in Tom's day, or previously, though it does seem to have grown in a little since 1916.  He certainly would have had many occasions to observe the hillside from across the lake, whether from the front porch of the Out Side Inn, from the shore, or from a canoe.  Plenty of his sketches depict what he would have seen.  And since the fire rangers did not have any nearby observation towers at the time, they did take advantage of hilltops with a good view, or even tall trees they could climb to look for smoke in the distance.  Tom was probably not the first to go up there."

The current view from Tom's probable painting location was included in the McElroys  "Climbing the Big Hill across from Achray on Grand Lake, In search of Tom Thomson". That image is included below.

Looking back, the McElroys think that perhaps the actual viewpoint may have been slightly to the right of where they took the above photo. But still, they were very close.

The McElroys comment:

"The problem, of course, is: where is Johnston Lake? It appears in the painting and on the map, but not in the photograph (even though we know it's there). This highlights a common difficulty in identifying Tom Thomson painting locations: You can no longer see the park as Tom Thomson saw it. The vegetation has changed significantly and most of the old infrastructure has disappeared. Lake levels are often different. Many scenes are no longer viewable and others are hard to recognize. But in spite of all this, many painting locations can be found.

In this case, the pine forests of the area had been extensively harvested in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Johnston Lake was visible from this location in 1916 but the regrowth of the pine forest now hides it from view. (see notes). This is also why the currently visible shape of the near end of Stratton Lake doesn't quite match the painting."

Notes:

Is our assertion that tree growth in the last 100 years is responsible for "hiding" Johnston Lake reasonable? A simple geometry calculation says yes. The assumed painting location is ~105m above Johnston Lake. The far shore of Johnston Lake is ~2700m distant. The highest elevation point along the line of sight towards the far shore of Johnston Lake is between Grand Lake and Johnston lake and is ~1900m distant. (These distances are horizontal distances.) If we consider two similar triangles sharing a common apex (the far shore of Johnston Lake) and one side being the elevation of Johnston Lake and the other side being along the line of sight, then: x/(2700-1900) = 105/2700 where x is the height of the visual obstruction (ground elevation above Johnston Lake plus tree height) between Grand Lake and Johnston Lake. Solving for x gives ~30m. Consequently, an obstruction ~30m high at this location would just be sufficient to block the view of the far shore of Johnston Lake, which is what our photos suggest is the current situation. The ground elevation at this point is 5 to 10m above Johnston Lake. This gives us a calculated tree height of 20 to 25m, which is reasonable for 100-year-old red and/or white pines. If you further calculate what you could see from the assumed painting location if the area were clear cut and the only obstruction was the 5 to 10m ground rise, then you could almost see the near shore of Johnston Lake (~2200m distant) as well. Consequently, we can confidently assert that the tree cover between Grand and Johnston Lakes determines the visibility of Johnston Lake from this location. Further, we can turn this discussion backwards and assert that this painting provides "painted proof" that the forests around Achray had been largely cleared when Thomson was painting here ~100 years ago.

This discussion is based on the assumption that the painting location was the bare rock area that we visited. This is plausible in that this is a pleasant comfortable location that provides a relatively unobstructed view of the subject scene and it would also have 100 years ago. The very thin to absent veneer of soil at this location precludes local tree growth. However, it is also possible that 100 years ago, the top of the hill was sufficiently denuded of trees due to logging that other locations on the hill would also provide an unobstructed view. (And a higher location would provide a better view of Johnston Lake). This possibility does not negate the conclusion that the painting location was from this hill, but it does add some uncertainty as to the exact location." 

The above Note from the McElroys is loaded with great and valuable information. I had to follow the details very carefully to form the thoughts in my mind. A picture can be worth many thousands of words so some of that McElroy knowledge is repeated in the following graphic. 

Now for the weather! The slice of sky in this painting may be narrow but it is more than enough. 

Tom deliberately included two subtle bands of clouds that stretched across the eastern horizon. The more defined altostratus deformation zone was the trailing edge of the comma head of a departing weather system. The higher and fainter line of ice crystal cirrus was part of the same warm conveyor belt circulation. Such a large, organized and probably old system must follow the westerly jet stream. A high-pressure centre was building across Algonquin Park in the wake of that storm. The absence of cumulus clouds reveals that the air was dry. The sunny conditions were more than warm enough to heat the ground and send surface air parcels buoyantly aloft. Those balloon bubbles of air did not contain sufficient moisture to reach saturation and were unable to result in cumulus clouds. 

The green star in the following graphic locates Thomson within the parade of weather systems. Tom was looking east at the trailing edges of the comma head of the warm conveyor belt. The long deformation zones wrapping around the retreating low indicate that the system was large and old. Circulations tend to get larger as they develop and harvest energy from the jet stream as well as the heat and moisture of the atmosphere. At their peak intensity, the energy is concentrated in the cyclonic circulation of an "old cold low". 

The cyclonic companion of the warm conveyor belt wraps around the old cold low. That moisture often makes several complete trips around the low. The cloud bands can resemble a scarf wrapping around the old cold low! Each layer of moisture comprising the warm conveyor belt makes its own layer around the cold low. Thomson observed the typical high and mid-level wraps of cirrus and altostratus respectively. The rotating white cylinder in the following graphic is my clunky representation of an old cold low in the conceptual model of the parade of weather systems. 

Forecasting old cold lows was a specialty of mine! It was very challenging but so much fun and full of weather! The water vapour imagery was my essential tool when diagnosing the real atmosphere. I explain why in "Enhancing the Satellite View of the Atmosphere" and "Reading Water Vapour Patterns". The water vapour imagery provides a three-dimensional view of the atmosphere as the flow follows the constant energy surfaces in the atmosphere (also see "Isentropic Surfaces - Science and Art Merges"). 

An old cold low crossed Ontario as this post was being prepared and as displayed in the above graphic. The human eye can follow the flow as the air spirals downward along the constant energy surfaces making several cyclonic trips around the old cold low. An earth-bound observer sees the outer edges of that flow as distinct layers of cloud. The real weather gave an excellent view of what the weather might have looked like from space, while Tom painted the distant cloud bands on the eastern horizon from the top of the big hill. 

In the high amplitude flow pattern that supports slow-moving cold lows, one can often see one weather system departing on the eastern horizon while the next approaches to the west. This flow pattern is typically described as an Omega Block after the Greek letter that the atmospheric flow resembles. The weather moves very slowly in such a blocking pattern. Such was the case when Tom painted "View from the Top of a Hill". The green star 1 in the following graphic locates Tom looking at the cold low exiting slowly to the east. The yellow star 2 in the graphic positions Tom in the parade of weather looking west to observe the "Yellow Sky" already on the western horizon to be painted that evening at sunset. 

The passage of a few hours would move the high-pressure area eastward on the heels of the retreating cold low. The next weather system could have been on the western horizon when Tom was paddling back to the Out Side Inn along the southern shore of Grand Lake. The cirrus and deformation zones of the next warm conveyor belt as described in "Yellow Sunset" would have been visible in that sunset sky. 

Conceptual models of the atmosphere are useful in placing Tom Thomson within the parade of weather systems. The April 3rd, 2024 Omega Block pattern satisfactorily represents the weather slowly crossing Grand Lake while Tom painted on a single wooden panel using both sides to record what he saw. 

We have diagnosed that the atmosphere was dry between the departing old cold low and the advancing conveyor belt weather system from that small wafer of sky included in "View from the Top of a Hill". Looking westward that evening, Rayleigh scattering would have eliminated the blue out of the direct beam from the sun. The sunset was yellow in colour. This fact tells us that the atmosphere was not excessively laden with particulates, moisture or volcanic sulphate aerosols which would have resulted in a red sunset sky. 

I consulted with my colleague Johnny Met. John agreed that the information teased out of the "View from the Top of a Hill" could improve the "Yellow Sky" diagnosis if they were painted on the same day. Indeed "cirrostratus was coming at Tom" would be the better forecast for "Yellow Sky" based on this new data. 

I wonder whether Tom had the day off as Fire Ranger and was exploring the shores of Grand Lake. Perhaps he was "working" and had climbed the big hill to scan the horizon for smoke. The summer of 1916 was parched and forest fires were a threat. World War One had been raging since 1914 and there were concerns of German saboteurs disrupting essential train shipments through the park. Anyway, it would have been fun to climb the hill to get a better view of the lay of the land. Tom was itching to get some painting time and maybe carried his paint box with him!

Tom could have been headed back to the Out Side Inn at Achray in the late afternoon after climbing the big hill and recording "View from the Top of a Hill". Paddling along the south shore of Grand Lake he might have noticed the spectacular sunset and decided he just had to record that sky. But this time the only surface he had was the back of the panel he had used earlier in the day from the top of the hill. 

We will never know for sure but the possibilities make for a good story. It could explain why "View from the Top of a Hill" and "Yellow Sunset" were on the same panel and painted from nearby locations. The skies even logically link the two paintings together within the typical progression of weather systems. 

As my Thomson friend laments: 

"Like so many things, we will never know for sure." 

Verso to 1916.37 "Yellow Sunset" Alternate title: Yellow Sky Spring or Summer 1916 Oil on wood 8 3/8 x 10 1/2 in. (21.3 x 26.7 cm) 

Credit line:

• to the National Gallery of Canada, Bequest of Dr. J.M. MacCallum, Toronto, 1944, Accession number4684v 

Note that his painting does not bear the Thomson Estate Stamp. Thomson's patron Dr. MacCallum took a fancy to at least one side of the panel. He immediately included the work within his own collection of Thomson's paintings. These paintings were not within the stack of Thomson panels that Harris and MacDonald sorted through in the spring of 1918.  

Thomson was obviously happy with "Yellow Sunset" and signed that side of the panel. "View from the Top of a Hill" also displays some wonderful and bold brushwork but is in much need of restoration and respect. 

Tom only signed the "Yellow Sunset" side of this panel. He perhaps was not thrilled with his efforts from the top of the big hill. The "View from the Top of a Hill" side was even defaced with black crayon, supposedly by someone at the National Art Gallery. The panel might have ended up in Thomson's campfire if it had not been for the "Yellow Sunset" side. Canadian art could have been deprived of a valuable history lesson. Oh my...

The front of  "View from the Top of a Hill" is on the left; the back of this painting on the right.

Both of the above paintings raise another interesting question. The official catalogue raisonné lists the season as either spring or summer. If these were painted on the same day as surmised, maybe we can do better than that. The McElroy's weighed in on that question:

"There are clues, but some are ambiguous.  The ground cover is bright green, which suggests spring or early summer.  The reddish leaves could suggest fall, but both maple and oak leaves emerge somewhat red or bronze coloured and gradually change to green as they expand.  Although I originally suggested those trees were maples, they might be oaks - looking back at our photos, the deciduous trees at the hilltop currently are red oaks, which are fairly drought tolerant.  The area did suffer a significant drought in 2012, which no doubt affected the vegetation (and perhaps that also explains the colours in 1916).  We saw a few dead deciduous trees, but I don't know what they were.  There were also dead jack pines and (smallish) white pines - the live ones were farther down the slope. The distant forest in the sketch looks green and lush - late spring or into summer.  The birch trees in the sketch are leafless, suggesting they are dead - they would be coming out early in the spring and be bright green, or else yellow in the fall.  We didn't see any birches up there in 2014.  

So, where does this leave us?  Pretty much floundering as to the season.  Unless the weather analysis provides some clue, we'll have to leave it as undetermined."

The weather does help a bit since cold lows are typically a springtime phenomenon in Ontario. Looking at the flora, I tend to give the lush vegetation the benefit of the doubt. Stressed trees in poor soils and prone to drought at the top of a hill tend to be unreliable witnesses. 

If a choice had to be made, I believe the evidence accumulates more on the side of late spring. If only Tom had left a note. We will never know for certain...

Note that Algonquin Park was named a National Historic Site in 1992 in recognition of several heritage values including:

•  its role in the development of park management; 
• pioneering visitor interpretation programs later adopted by national and provincial parks across the country; 
• its role in inspiring artists, which in turn gave Canadians a greater sense of their country; 
• and historic structures.

"View from the Top of a Hill" by Thomson summarizes the third bullet in the above list explaining why Algonquin Park is a National Historic Site! 

Many interesting stories can be discovered with boots on the ground, open minds and good science. History can be rediscovered and brought to life.  As mentioned, this story might be fiction but the science is factual. The contributions of the McElroys to this post have made this one of my favourite Thomson Creative Scene Investigations.  I continue to learn from the Thomson experts who have become my friends over the years!

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. 

Tom Thomson's Yellow Sunset, Spring or summer 1916

 Tom Thomson Post 123

It is best to start the Creative Scene Investigation with established facts. This builds the case on a defensible, solid foundation! My Thomson friends familiar with the Grand Lake area graciously provide these truths in the case of Tom Thomson's "Yellow Sunset" based on boots-on-the-ground investigations. 

Yellow Sunset, Spring or Summer 1916,
Alternate title: Yellow Sky
Oil on wood 8 3/8 x 10 1/2 in. (21.3 x 26.7 cm)
Tom's Paint Box Size, Catalogue 1916.37

The alternate title of "Yellow Sky" is interesting. It has been demonstrated in this series of blogs that many of the Thomson "sunset" paintings were actually sunrises. Tom was a morning person and liked to get an early start on the day. Perhaps Tom's friends Harris and MacDonald who were responsible for attributing names to most of his works in the spring of 1918 were getting a bit nervous by the vast number of late-day paintings. In this situation, they apparently suggested a safe alternative and noncommittal name "Yellow Sky". They need not have worried. 

My Thomson friends have located the painting locations of both "Yellow Sunset" and "View from the Top of a Hill". Thomson used the same wooden panel to record both paintings in 1916. The following maps concentrate on the painting location of "Yellow Sunset".

Whether Tom was floating in his canoe or sitting on the rocky shoreline is uncertain. My Thomson friend observes: 

"The shore is quite steep and rocky and there are not many spots that would be even remotely comfortable to sit. It does look like a nice calm evening, so maybe the canoe option is at least possible.  We lined up the scene by finding a view where the end of the point was directly below the peak of the big hill."

After establishing the location and direction of view, I reached out to my friend and colleague Johnny Met for a weather observation based on  "Yellow Sunset". I have known Johnny for most of my meteorological career and he has never let me down! He brings a lifetime of experience to each and every question that might be asked. 

"It is the end-of-the-day painting of a high-pressure scenario. It would go well on my wall celebrating my weather observing career. I would call it twilight time.  The visibility is really sharp. In a flat area, the horizon would have been visible. I am expecting a bright planet, maybe Venus or Mars, to appear. Because it is looking northwest, it must be late May or early June. The diurnal lift has ended, and the cumulus clouds of the day have flattened.  A little aside, as a rookie, I needed help when to record cumulus and change it to stratocumulus. The background whiteness of the sky indicates that the sunset has occurred and that a twilight time of maybe 20 minutes is occurring. The darkness of the hills means it is dark over there.  Tomorrow, it will be generally sunny with a few fair-weather cumulus clouds and light winds.    Johnny Met."

Johnny's forecast could be absolutely correct but I wondered about the sky's grey colour, especially to the south (left). The blue of a clear sky might be tinted by thin cirrostratus, which would considerably change the forecast for the next day. 

Cirrostratus is often overlooked! Thin and high cirrus cloud is translucent. Most people do not even see it! Cirrus is never opaque and does not become darker in the central mass of the cloud when it is backlit like other clouds including stratocumulus. The last rays of white sunlight not following a long atmospheric path can reach those high ice crystals. The white light would be Mie scattered forward by the large ice crystals as seen in Tom's observation. Recall that beams of sunlight following long trajectories lower in the atmosphere have the blue component "Rayleigh scattered" out of the beam. Only longer wavelength yellow and red light is left to illuminate the scene as painting in "Yellow Sunset".

Cirrus and cirrostratus would suggest that a warm conveyor belt was approaching. I often use the phrase "cirrostratus coming at us" to describe an approaching conveyor belt weather system. That science is represented in many places within "The Art and Science of Phil the Forecaster" blogs. The entry Wind Waves and Swells and Lines in the Sky is as good as any but there are many others... If there was a halo around the sun the following day, Mother Nature would have selected the warm conveyor belt solution. Only cirrus will cast a 22-degree radius halo. Haloes are described in many blog entries but most recently in "Tom Thomson's Moonlight Over Canoe Lake". 

The opposing options of a fair weather day from Johnny Met's observation or a mid-latitude storm based on the hint of grey in Tom's "Yellow Sunset" is an example of typical content for our "Fireside Chats" that we held at least a couple of times every shift. There was no crackling campfire or marshmallows in the Weather Centre - just a team of like-minded meteorologists providing a service. The question would be readily resolved at the Weather Centre by looking at satellite imagery or weather observations from upstream locations. Those options are not available if all we have is Tom's painting. 

The other interesting feature of Tom's painting is a faint white line on the distant shore. This is sun glint from the calm water and results from the increasingly large water surface area subtended by the artist’s eye as you look at those reflective, glancing angles. Tom's vantage was very low - perhaps even from his canoe, so Tom painted the maximum amount of reflected light possible. A graphic from my "Tom Thomson Was A Weatherman" presentation might help to explain this concept of light reflected at glancing angles from distant water surfaces. In this case, Hill 2 blocked most of the light from reaching the lake surface.

The PowerPoint animations of this slide are complicated with arrows and interactions whizzing about. It shows that the viewer sees more surface area at a glancing angle to the water. The larger 

viewing area reflecting more light to your eye explains the bright line that Thomson frequently observed and painted. Reflection greatly exceeds refraction at these glancing angles as well. Refraction of light dominates reflection when the viewer looks more directly down into the water and can see the bottom. 

I wonder if the ripple in the south basin of Grand Lake might have been caused by an easterly breeze. If so, that would be a bit of evidence supporting the "cirrostratus coming at us" diagnosis of Tom's sunset sky.

Uncharacteristically, Thomson actually signed this plein air painting. Perhaps Tom signed the panel as a favour to his patron Dr. J.M. MacCallum who took a fancy to this particular weather observation. 

As far as it is known, the panel containing "Yellow Sunset" and "View from the Top of a Hill" has not been split.  That is unfortunate, as it would be instructional to see them side by side. The thought of taking a cutting device to separate the front from the back of that panel would scare the "heebie-jeebies" out of me although similar operations have been done before on Tom's art. 

My Thomson friend observes:

"We can only guess at the story behind the panel. Given the rough shape the "View from the Top of a Hill" is in, we suspected Tom did not think all that highly of it, and perhaps, needing a panel for "Yellow Sunset", just turned over what was handy and painted on that.  Perhaps they were both painted on the same day and that was the only panel he had with him.  After Tom's death, it went to MacCallum and then to the National Gallery and there it has stayed."

This sequence of events suggests that Thomson painted "View from the Top of a Hill" first. Even a desperate artist with nil supplies would be hesitant to flip over the stunningly beautiful "Yellow Sunset" and brush thick oils on the back of that panel!

Perhaps Thomson once again has the final word without saying anything. Tom did not sign  "View from the Top of a Hill"!

As my Thomson friend summarizes: 

"Like so many things, we will never know for sure." 

Tom might have been heading back to the Outside Inn at Achray that evening. Paddling along the south shore of Grand Lake he witnessed a spectacular sunset and decided that he just had to paint that sky. But this time the only surface he had might have been the back of the panel he had used earlier in the day from the top of the hill. We will never know for sure but it makes for a good story. 

Given the rugged and inhospitable shoreline, Tom was likely painting from his canoe that evening in 1916 when he observed "Yellow Sunset". A 1914 photo by Arthur Lismer included above shows Tom possibly painting from his canoe. Tom might have just been paddling in that image - especially given the raised orientation of his left arm. Tom was right-handed. If Tom was painting his right hand would be raised to the panel. This also assumes that Tom had a paint box poised on his lap and his left hand might be raised to steady it. It is an interesting picture; again, we will never know what Tom was doing for certain.  It is a fair representation of how Tom would have looked while painting "Yellow Sunset". 

Inscription recto: 

• l.r., TOM THOMSON  (something Thomson rarely did on a plein air painting unless asked to do so, like Daphne Crombie and perhaps Ernest Freure among a very few.)

Inscription verso: 

• another sketch, possibly of Aura Lee Lake in spring; 
• u.l., in black crayon, 74 National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (4684) 

Note that the above Inscription Verso is copied directly from the official Tom Thomson Catalogue Raisonné  entry for "Yellow Sunset" 1916 (1916.37). The comment "another sketch, possibly of Aura Lee Lake in spring " is only found in the "Tom Thomson Catalogue Raisonné, Researched and written by Joan Murray".  The comment is not written on the back (verso) of  "Yellow Sunset". 

The following image is linked as "Additional Images" from "Yellow Sunset"  and is titled simply as "Yellow Sunset, Spring or summer 1916 (1916.37). Verso".  There is no listing for "View from the Top of a Hill" in the official Tom Thomson Catalogue Raisonné although it can be found on the website of the National Gallery of Canada. The details are included in the following graphic. 

A picture is worth a thousand words. I always include an image of the back of paintings within my Catalogue Raisonné.  

The Creative Scene Investigation "Tom Thomson's View from the Top of a Hill 1916" conclusively proved that the painting was done on the "big hill" overlooking Grand Lake, Stratton Lake and Johnston Lake.  "View from the Top of a Hill" was definitely not "another sketch, possibly of Aura Lee Lake in spring". 

The author and contributors to "Tom Thomson Was A Weatherman" wished to correct some errors and set the official record straight with regards to "View from the Top of the Hill". This painting found on the back of "Yellow Sunset" should not have been dismissed. There was also a lot of interesting science and history to discover from both sides of this panel. This also explains why "Tom Thomson's Aura Lee Lake, Spring 1916" is also the subject of a Creative Scene Investigation.  

Provenance: 

• Dr. J.M. MacCallum, Toronto 
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (4684). Bequest of Dr. J.M. MacCallum, Toronto, 1944

The accuracy of the Creative Scene Investigations hinges critically on the fact that Thomson painted pretty much exactly what he saw. Tom did not make stuff up or invoke his artistic licence excessively. My Thomson friends who have hiked and paddled extensively make the following observation:

"In every case where we have identified a Tom Thomson painting location, he has not moved things around or distorted the relative sizes of landscape features.  What he did do quite often was to change the aspect ratio - e.g. make the hills taller in relation to the width of the view (see the Jack Pine sketch for an example; also Aura Lee Lake).  I think this may have been due to the proportions of the panels he used for sketches.  Looking at the actual views, many of the sketches would have been mostly sky and water if he had kept the heights of hills, etc. in exact proportion to reality, so he squeezed things horizontally to get it all in.  The scenes are still quite recognizable and it is possible to match up the landscape features one by one."

"Amen" is all I need to say to this excellent observation by my Thomson friends...

Tom was overly depreciating of his art. "Lawren Harris recalled that Thomson, full of scorn at one of his own thickly-painted canvases, sat opposite and flicked burnt matches at it." Harris most likely observed Tom flipping burning matches at his wet oil paintings during their camping time together in the last two weeks of April 1916. 

How many paintings like "View from the Top of a Hill" ended up in Thomson's campfire creating beautifully coloured flames for the last time. Tom signed and was proud of "Yellow Sunset" and otherwise, "View from the Top of a Hill" would probably have displayed the colours of those oils in flames and not in the National Gallery of Canada.

Many interesting stories can be discovered with boots on the ground, open minds and some science. History can be rediscovered and brought to life. The deeper one investigates, the more there is to find. Life is good!

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. 

Tom Thomson's Bateaux Summer 1916

“Bateaux” from the late spring of  1916 appropriately follows “Sandbank with Logs”, "The Drive“ and “Abandoned Logs”.  Tom Thomson, the Fire Ranger appeared to be following the loggers and chronicling the lumber industry of the early 20th Century. 

Bateaux Summer 1916
Oil on wood 8 7/16 x 10 9/16 in. (21.5 x 26.8 cm)
Tom's Paint Box Size

J.R. Booth and sons circa 1900

The three boats featured in Tom's painting were "pointers".  John R. Booth commissioned John Cockburn to build a solid boat to use as a working platform in the logging industry. John Cockburn had begun his boat-building business in Ottawa in the 1850s but moved it to Pembroke in 1859 after securing the Booth Contract. That strategic relocation saved transporting the finished pointers to his client 145 miles from Ottawa by horse and sleigh. 

The Cockburns built their pointers to last at least ten seasons in normal use. Some boats only made it a few months due to the rocks and rapids of the Algonquin rivers. In peak years, the Cockburn family produced two hundred pointers! The historical boat was essential in the logging industry and was famed for being able to "float on a heavy dew".

The flat-bottomed wooden pointers were used in log drives to transport men and equipment to wherever they were required. In Tom's painting. the pointer was crewed by six men herding logs into a boom 

Three generations of Cockburns built these famed and versatile boats. The business first passed to John's son Albert, and then, to grandson Jack. Jack Cockburn continued to produce pointers through to 1969 before he died in 1972. In recognition of the Cockburn family and the pointer's historical impact on the logging industry, a 32-foot steel replica of the pointer is displayed at the Pembroke marina. 

The Pointer Boat business evolved into a hardware store under the name of Cockburn and Archer, who were still active into the 1980s. Cockburn and Archer Hardware Store even sold peaveys, the lumberman's metal-spiked lever with a pivoting hook called a cant hook attached.

J.E.H. MacDonald and Lawren Harris named this painting "Bateaux" when they met in the Studio Building in the spring of 1918. As detailed in the above graphic, the title is the French word for "boats" which described flat-bottomed boats throughout North America. The specific boats in Tom's painting and used in the Algonquin lumber industry were actually the locally crafted "pointers". 

The arrangement of the pointers in this photograph from the Algonquin Park Archives is strikingly similar to the boats arranged in Thomson's painting. Even the distant hills bear a resemblance between the photo and the painting. 

The full image as provided by the Algonquin Park Archives& Collection - APM 2086

The flat bases and tops of the stratocumulus reveal the story behind those clouds. The uniform flat bases say that the sun heating the ground got those surface-based air parcels to the lifted condensation level (LCL). The flat tops shout out the story of a subsidence inversion. 

The subsidence inversion can be explained using a Tephigram and was explained in "What Goes Up ...". The following graphic uses the similar American National Weather Centre Skew-T Energy Diagram. Subsiding air becomes instantly unsaturated and warms quickly at the dry adiabatic lapse rate. The warmed layer becomes an impregnable lid for any thermals attempting to rise convectively from below. Clouds under a subsidence inversion have flat tops. 

The yellow star locates Tom in the Parade of Weather Systems

At this point, I asked my friend and colleague Johnny Lade to take a look at this painting as if he were making a weather observation. Known to his students as "Johnny Met", he has a lifetime of experience observing the weather. Johnny nailed his observation since Thomson painted exactly what he saw.

"The thing about the painting is how everything stands out. The visibility looks CAVU (aeronautical meteorology term meaning "Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited") leading me to think that a cold front went through leading to a different brand of air. I think there is a conveyor belt above the clouds and the initial diurnal lift was cut off by a brisk geostrophic wind. The clouds are stratocumulus streeting lining up parallel to the winds. The visibility is so sharp I can almost see the leaves of the trees moving in the wind across the lake.  The logs are acting like a breakwater with little or no wave action in the close-up. Whereas there seems to be wave action further out in the main part of the lake."

The "brisk geostrophic" winds that Johnny mentioned were the subsiding, anticyclonic companion of the dry conveyor belt depicted as the orange and white arrow in the above graphic. If you use your Coriolis Hand and curve your fingers in the same direction as the orange arrow, your thumb must point downward. Anticyclonically curved winds are also "super-geostrophic" in speed meaning the winds are stronger than the pressure gradient would suggest. The science behind this may be found in "Another Look at the Wind". 

If Johnny had been there watching the actual clouds move on that day, he would have easily observed the drift of the clouds. Cloud motion would have revealed the wind direction and relative speed as well.

The cloud organization resulting from the interacting helical circulations of the wind and the surface-based convective thermals would have been fascinating to witness. The lower left portion of the above graphic attempts to explain those circulations in the atmosphere - essentially Langmuir Streak (see "Langmuir Streaks – Take the time to Observe and Learn from Nature"). The gravity waves in the water surface used in that portion of the graphic must be perpendicular to the winds while the cloud streets parallel the flow. Linking the pieces of cloud in Tom's painting is a challenge from an earth-bound perspective. More than a century later, we can only apply the conceptual models to best explain what Tom might have seen. 

Johnny also mentioned the "breakwater" effect of the log boom. The floating timbers bobbing up and down with any wave action would quickly dampen the energy of those incoming waves. Relatively calm matter must be found in the lee of any log boom. It would still be dangerous work walking those logs even with poles and spiked boots. 

The colours of the landscape provide even more clues. 

The last part of this story behind "Bateaux" is usually where we try to start the Creative Scene Investigation. Where was "Bateaux" painted? My Thomson friend may have found the answer just downstream from "Sandbank with Logs"!

"Whitson is an unusual lake, in that it is really just a widening of the (Petawawa) river.  The shore is quite varied, with some rocky sections, some gravelly, and some sandbanks, while the islands are muddy silt.  Most of the current passes along one quite deep channel while the rest of the lake is fairly shallow.  The islands are damp with thick vegetation that seems out of place in the more northern landscape, and they are often flooded in the spring.  I have seen no evidence of any kind to suggest that the lake was dammed at the outlet - it is contained by a rocky sill and during the spring high water has more than enough to float logs."

 

 

"I don't think the trees on the islands would have been aspen or birch - it would be too wet and muddy for them.  Currently they are mostly covered with silver maples and other plants that prefer that sort of habitat."

It is vitally important to listen to one who knows and has been there! Following boots on the ground is often the only way to get to the truth. Note that silver maples leaf out in the spring very soon after aspen and birch and could easily explain the green patches that Tom painted! 

Location "C" on the accompanying map is possibly the location of the historic photo of the Driver's Camp from the Algonquin Park Archives and Collection APM 2086. The distant terrain and the adjacent shoreline with the log is a convincing match as traced in the above graphic. 

Comparing the topography Tom painted with the following Version 6 Whitson Lake area map by Jeffrey McMurtrie also reveals some interesting correlations. Letter "B" could be THE spot where Thomson sat while he observed the lumbermen at work on the log boom. The pale white arrows in the graphic enclose the view toward Hills 1 and 2. The blue and white arrow follows the flow of the back eddy into the shallow and protected bay.

Further investigation and paddling might be required to reach a definitive conclusion. Sometimes another letter other than "X" marks the spot. Jeffrey McMurtrie has produced some terrific and educational maps ideal for hiking and canoeing in Algonquin Park. Visit "Maps by Jeff" for the most recent version. 

Hill 2 is one height contour taller than Hill 1 in Jeff's map but is noticeably stunted in Tom's painting. Hill 1 is a bit closer to the possible painting location but the height difference still seems a bit excessive. As my Thomson friend notes: 

"I'm hoping it's just an angle of view thing, and when I get back to the actual spot I'll be able to sort it out.  In the meantime, it's a good enough theory, and fun to think about, regardless."

May I digress for a bit more canoeing science? The sandy soils found in some localities along the Petawawa provide a blank canvas for the river and the Coriolis Force. The deep, main channel carved by the current and traced by the yellow line in the above map is deflected to the right when not restricted by terrain features. The anticyclonic back eddies that deflect to the right are typically larger than the cyclonic eddies to the right.  The loggers even use that natural and larger deflection to collect timber harvest more easily. Your Coriolis fingers (right hand in the northern hemisphere) point in the direction that the logs are more apt to travel. Over eons, that flow has also deposited enough soil to support the Provincially Significant Deciduous Swamp Forest. If you are paddling with the current and wish to eddy out for a break, deflect to the right. 

Bateaux Summer 1916

A prominent Canadian art historian once mentioned to me while I visited the National Gallery of Canada that Thomson would invent or distort compositional content to benefit the design. I did not truly agree with that assertion but perhaps artistic licence was used to make the hills slightly different in height and to create depth. The two hills are real in Jeff's topographical chart. Clear-cutting of the Algonquin forest could explain the drab springtime colours Tom painted on those slopes but not their stature. 

I also wonder why the lone tall white pine on the left side of the panel was spared from the axe? Perhaps the swampy deciduous forest that is now deemed to be provincially significant just made that desirable tree too troublesome to harvest. We will never know for certain!

The more one investigates, the more questions come to light. Definitive answers might never be found leaving only probabilities and conjecture. One benefit of communicating this art and science in blogs is that the information can be readily updated should more information be discovered. The story can be a living and improving tale of authentication and learning.   

The actual Creative Scene Investigation for "Bateaux" occurred in the order that it was written. Refinements on the tree identification and soil types can only be discovered by being there - "boots on the ground". Estimates based solely on the painting can easily be flawed and one needs to always be open-minded to suggestions and other possibilities. 

Artistically, Tom loosely employed the "Rule of Thirds" in "Bateaux".The calm water in the lee of the log boom lies between the closest edge of the log boom and the upper gunwale of a pointer. The lowest third parallels these three lines. Meanwhile the upper third straddles the undulating horizon of the distant hills. The locations of the shocking stabs of colour do not relate to the intersection points of the thirds - something Tom also did in Sandbank with Logs” and "The Drive“.   

Artistically, Tom was having fun capturing the activities of the lumbermen in action. The puzzle pieces of the Creative Scene Investigation all fit together. 

Inscription recto: 

• l.l., estate stamp (as applied by Harris and MacDonald)

It was a daunting challenge to even attempt to name and date Tom's work. Lawren Harris and J.E.H. MacDonald were true friends of Tom!

Inscription verso: 

• c., estate stamp; 
• l.l., in graphite, no. 48 Mrs. Harkness; 
• c., in red pencil, 46;
• u.r., in graphite, W.C.L.; 
• below stamp in graphite, G; 
• (in 1970) inscribed on stretcher, in graphite, 5 Bateaux Rouges 48. Harkness? Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (853) 

W.C.L. on the verso refers to Walter C. Laidlaw who may have considered buying the sketch.

Pointer boats were used mainly in the spring to guide logs down swollen rivers toward sawmills.

Provenance:

• Estate of the artist 
• Elizabeth Thomson Harkness, Annan and Owen Sound 
• Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (853). 
• Gift from the Reuben and Kate Leonard Canadian Fund, 1927

This painting went to Thomson’s eldest sister upon his passing. Elizabeth's husband was Thomas “Tom” J. Harkness who was appointed by the Thomson family to look after the affairs of Tom’s estate. T. J. and Elizabeth lived in Annan, Ontario, just east of Owen Sound. From Elizabeth, aka "Mrs. Harkness", the painting went to the Art Gallery of Ontario where I first saw it - nose to nose. Funds from the Reuben and Kate Leonard Canadian Fund made that transaction happen in 1927.

                     A Pointer entering the rapids in 1960                        

Many interesting stories can be discovered with boots on the ground, open minds and some science. History can be rediscovered and brought to life.  As mentioned, this story might be fiction but the science is factual. Thank you once again to my Thomson friends and the Friends of Algonquin Park who maintain the Algonquin Park Archives. 

May I also recommend "Late Summer 1916", a post by my friend known as "Tom Thomson's Last Spring". The story relates a personal side to the history of logging, fires and life in the bush that augments the brushwork of Thomson. 

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.