Tom Thomson art exhibition shines spotlight on issues of authenticity


DECEMBER 25, 2021

‘Tom Thomson? The ‘Art of Authentication’, which opens in September, is organized around five elements of certification: signature, style, content, content and origin.

There are about 40 works hanging right now in the Tom Thomson exhibition at Hamilton’s Art Gallery. Two in particular are the stars of the show, or at least its raj d’etre. These two works may or may not be painted by Mr. Thomson.

“Tom Thomson? The Art of Authentication,” which travels to Kingston in February, is a thoughtful show that doesn’t offer a conclusive yes or no. The exhibition came together as the result of coincidence, collaboration and creativity. And it is much more than Mr. Thomson himself.

“We’re really just using that,” says Toby Bruce, director, exhibitions and collections and senior curator at AGH. “The lovely byproduct is that you also get to see this amazing collection from Thomson.”

In his brief career as a painter before his mysterious death in 1917, Mr. Thomson produced hundreds of oil sketches. And, as the show’s catalog notes, he’s one of the most faked Canadian artists.

People working in historical Canadian art get a lot of inquiries that go something like this: I bought this painting at a flea market and I have reason to believe it’s Tom Thomson. can you see?

Tom Thomson’s Ragged Lake, 1915 Oil on Wood 21.2. × 26.2 cm Art Gallery of Hamilton Gift of Mrs. GY Douglas, 1963Hamilton’s Art Gallery

But when Ms. Bruce received this particular inquiry from a Mississauga man in 2014, it came with some support from June Brammel, a prominent art restorer who worked for AGH. A “TT” signature was revealed by Ms. Brammel when she cleaned the piece.

The man bought the work—at the Freelton Antique Mall north of Hamilton—for about $100 because it caught his eye. There was some suggestion that it might be Thomson, but that was not enough for him to take it seriously. It was so dirty that he sat in a drawer in the guest bedroom of his tiny house for almost two years before he pulled it up and brought it to a friend, Ms. Brammel. He says that after working On top of that for a few months, Ms. Bramall told him she thought the piece was accurate – the terminology used in the certification. (Not identifying the person, who is concerned about being named because of the painting’s potential value.)

Ms. Brammel, who died in 2018, helped get her in touch with Ms. Bruce.

“We do not certify as institutional curators,” says Ms. Bruce. But she was curious. He mentioned it soon after, while working on a project with Alicia Boutillier, chief curator/curator of Canadian historical art at the Agnes Etherington Art Center at Queen’s University in Kingston.

“And I said it’s very strange, you know, just six months ago, I had a similar situation,” says Ms. Bautillier. The painting that was brought to him was found in an antiques shop in southwestern Ontario, circa 1985. (The owner of that painting declined to speak with The Granthshala.)

Tom Thomson First Snow, 1916 Oil on composite wood-pulp board 21.5 × 26.7 cm Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston Gift of the Queen’s University Art Foundation, 1941Agnes Etherington Arts Center

Around the same time, a news story caught his attention: the Vancouver Art Gallery had acquired 10 works, said to be by a group of seven member JEH MacDonald, who had been buried for more than 40 years at his former property north of Toronto. Was. But questions were raised about the work, as reported.

In response, Montreal-based gallerist and Canadian historical art expert Alan Klinkhoff proposed inviting a panel of experts to establish and assess one or more sketches with known McDonald’s sketches.

The light bulb went off: Ms. Bruce and Ms. Bautillier conceived an exhibition about certification, with the two sketches under consideration as nuclei.

The Hamilton sketch depicts a dock with a boathouse and a canoe floating on the lake. The Kingston sketch depicts trees in the snow, focusing on the trunks.

The exhibition, which opens in September, is organized around five elements of certification: signature, style, subject matter, content and origin.

Tom Thomson The Birch Grove, Autumn, 1915-16 oil on canvas 101.6 × 116.8 cm Art Gallery of Hamilton Gift of Roy G. Cole, in memory of his parents, Matthew and Annie Bell Gilmore Cole, 1967Hamilton’s Art Gallery

The show begins with a gallery of six works that hang on the wall, without labels. There is a known fake. The audience is invited to determine which one it may be. This is the section that deals with signatures – one of the first things to be checked by experts in an authentication attempt. But Mr. Thomson rarely signed off on his work. Even when he did, the signings changed over the course of his career; His initial signature was larger, cursive and “far more declarative”, the catalog notes.

In the Materials section, the important role of scientific analysis is examined: techniques that allow experts to examine the paint that the artist used, or for materials that were not available to the artist.

In style, one of the works in question hangs with a known Thomson; The wall labels are placed away so that the audience can re-evaluate. They are invited to consider things like brush strokes and color.

While departure from an artist’s known work can be a red flag, there are always inconsistencies. “As Alicia says, you always have to be open to the fact that artists are not always going to work in a box,” says Ms. Bruce. “It could have been something they were trying.”

The show also considers what is really in the picture. Is this the place the artist is known for? Does it correspond to known functions? But just because Mr. Thomson didn’t paint buildings often doesn’t mean he never did. “The subject matter can be a slippery exercise,” says Ms. Bautillier during a virtual tour of the exhibition.
Tom Thomson, Burn Country c. 1915 Oil on composite wood-pulp board 21.4 × 26.5 cm Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound Gift of The Lyceum Club and Women’s Art Association of Owen Sound, 1967Tom Thomson Art Gallery

Finally, the show looks at the origins, the ownership history of the painting. Here, detective work often focuses on what is written or stamped on the back of the work, and supporting documents.

The show ends with two known fakes who were part of a high-profile court case in the 1960s.

By the end, the audience often has an opinion. “People are very divided,” says Ms. Bruce. Some would say that there is no way or that both paintings are not Thomson’s; Others are sure they are not perfect. Visitors love the opportunity to exercise, be the judge, even without the satisfaction of a certain answer.

Co-curators won’t say what they think. “My own sober opinion changes,” says Ms. Bautillier.

“We are not Thomson experts,” adds Ms. Bruce. “The real purpose of that for us, and I think where the project has really been a success, is it’s all the behind the scenes work that the curators, historians, dealers, patrons do when they try and proofread something And the public is very fascinated by that.”

Thomson’s official certification is extremely difficult; There are few experts who are willing to do so at this time. Basically, the only opportunity to certify a work is to sell it at auction, as auction houses may still be willing to do the work and take responsibility for it

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Tom Thomson Woods in Winter, c. 1917 oil on wood 14.5 × 20 cm Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound Gift of Lewis (Thomson) Henry, sister of Tom Thomson, 1967Tom Thomson Art Gallery

Joan Murray, the Thomson specialist who wrote her Catalog Risen (which lists every known authentic work of a particular artist), retired from the privately conducted Thomson’s active investigation in 2016 and will not be included in the catalogue.

It is proposed to open a kind of appendix with a non-certification register of works and supporting research material. Acceptance would not imply certification, but it would be a way to track potential Thomson and supporting research material in a central registry.

“In the next hundred years, more works by Tom Thomson will emerge, as predicted by Joan Murray himself,” reads a draft proposal for the registry prepared by Angie Littlefield, an expert whose books include Tom Thomson’s Fine Kettle of Friends: Biography, History, Art and Food, “The art historical and research communities need to be on the ground floor of collecting the valuable materials that can arise from discoveries like these.”

The two works that form the nucleus of this exhibition are candidates.

The show kicks off in Hamilton on January 2 and is scheduled to open in Agnes on February 26. After that, the pictures will be returned to their owners. The Mississauga man plans to bring his house and hang it on the wall.