Tom Thomson Art Gallery Exhibitions

A small exhibition showcasing highlights of the Gallery's Collection of Tom Thomson works.

The Tom Thomson Art Gallery celebrates the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Group of Seven

An artistic alliance, the members of the Group of Seven were bound by their desire to record the Canadian geography in a new and distinctive way. They shunned prevailing European painting conventions and honed a fresh style that has become uniquely recognizable.

Although Tom Thomson died in Algonquin Park three years before the formation of the Group, his shared vision and camaraderie left a lasting impression on them. Some of these artists honoured that bond by donating their time and artwork to support the establishment of the Gallery in Owen Sound as a memorial to Thomson in the 1960s. Complemented by gifts of art from private collectors, and supplemented by a few acquisitions made possible through financial donations, the Gallery has assembled a nationally significant collection of artwork by Tom Thomson and members of the Group.

Showcasing the Gallery’s impressive collection, The View from Here takes you on a visual tour across the country as experienced by the Group. Using Toronto as their home base, they made short excursions to the countryside and rural villages to sketch. Becoming more adventurous, the painters followed Thomson to Algonquin Park and Georgian Bay. Later, the artists would journey to Algoma and Lake Superior, Quebec, the Maritimes, the Rockies, and the Arctic, in search of inspiration.

More than just captivating artworks, the paintings, prints, and drawings represent tangible connections between the members of the Group and Owen Sound, the legacy of community donors, and the importance of the Gallery’s collection within the larger Group of Seven story. The View from Here offers an intimate, local perspective on the artists that helped shape the Nation.

Curated by David Huff, Curator of Collections, Tom Thomson Art Gallery
with assistance from Joan Hawksbridge and Emily Dykeman

Virtually tour this exhibition on our Digital Portal

Image Credit: Lawren Harris, Pic Island, 1925, oil on canvas. Gift of the Estate of Jennings David Young, 1999. Collection of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery.

There is so much apathy and pessimism out there. All the more reason to bring elements of spirituality from art history forward to discuss…as a sanctuary for thought. –David Bierk

David Bierk’s paintings bring the past forward to be re-examined as objects of contemporary inquiry. His highly skilled appropriations of old masterworks—including those by Caravaggio, Tom Thomson, and Lucius O’Brien—and his late 20th century depictions of Canadian landscapes executed in a highly romanticized 19th century style, could convincingly take their place alongside historical works in a museum, however, the artist’s inclusion of steel sheets and photographic prints disrupt this illusion. These modern industrial materials stand out in stark contrast to the painted homages, creating a dialogue that is grounded in the postmodern moment.

A Sanctuary for Thought presents works from the Gallery’s Collection - some never before seen -  that highlight Bierk’s anxieties over a threatened ecological landscape and the erosion of beauty, humanism, and morality in art. His paintings offer reverence for the artists who came before him and provide cautionary eulogies to the earth and sky that still surround us.

Image Credit: David Bierk, An Allegory of Balances (Oh Canada) after Thomson and de Chirico, 1995, oil on canvas, photograph, and steel. Gift of the Artist, 1997. Collection of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery. 

#myessential | On View March 6 - May 1, 2021