SPRING2017
MLBLUE
55
Words ::VirginiaEichhorn
Imagine, if youwill, that two artists exploring a second-handbookstore indowntownToronto comeupon
a tattered copy of James Joyce’s
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
. They pick it up and while idly
leafing through it discover a hand-drawnmap of what looks like Algonquin Park. On themap there is a
mysterious symbol with the initials “TT” drawn within it. Their curiosity is sparked and they purchase
the book for a dollar.
After discussing their new purchase and themap they decide to see if they can track downwhatever the
symbol indicates. Five years later, and after several trips to Algonquin Park, they discover a small cairn
almost completely coveredbyovergrowth.Theyopenup the cairn andwithin it find a tinboxwrapped in
apiece of burlap.Within that tinbox is a leather journalwith the initialsG.N. embossedon its cover.The
artists excitedly but carefully look through the journal anddiscover that it is about a previously unknown
relationshipbetween the journal’s author andTomThomson.This journal, if authenticated,would change
forever what we know aboutTomThomson andhis life. Imagine.
And that is exactlywhatOwenSound’sTomThomsonArtGallery is doingwith the exhibition
Betwixt&
Between: AnUntoldTomThomson Story,
where lead artists Joel Richardson, GerminioPioPoliti andNyle
Johnstonbuilduponwhatwe know aboutTom, investigating the contradictions andmysteries.There are
some facts aboutTomThomsonwhich are incontrovertible. Yetmany aspects of his life remainwithin the
realmof conjecture and (sometimes contrarian) supposition. In fact, it has been said that ifTomThomson
hadnot existed, Canadawouldhave had to invent him.
AnUntoldTom
ThomsonStory
TomThomson in a canoe at campsite, 1912. ARTHURLISMERPAPERS, EDWARDP.TAYLORRESEARCHLIBRARY&ARCHIVES, ARTGALLERYOFONTARIO.Gift ofMarjorieLismerBridges.
