Called "the art book of the year" and "a triumph of publishing" by the Sun Times, Tom Thomson is now available in paperback. Tom Thomson is one of the first major multi-authored books on this subject, and it has a critical edge that has been missing in the mostly celebratory, decorative works that have come before. The picture that emerges from the essays is complex, contradictory, sometimes even confused, but it's what is needed right now." (Globe and Mail)

 

In this lavishly illustrated, "comprehensive and compelling account of Tom Thomson's life and times" (Toronto Sun), six expertly written essays reveal the iconic Canadian artist and colleague of the Group of Seven from many different perspectives from his biography and work to the context of the period in which he lived.

This book was published in partnership with the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Charles Hill has worked for the National Gallery of Canada since 1972 and has been the gallery's Curator of Canadian Art since 1980. His exhibitions include Canadian Painting in the Thirties (1975); John Vanderpant: Photographs (1977); To Found a National Gallery: The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, 1880-1913 (1980); Morrice: A Gift to the Nation; The G. Blair Laing Collection (1992); William Kurelek (1992); The Group of Seven: Art for a Nation (1995) Tom Thomson (2002); Emily Carr: New Perspectives on a Canadian Icon (2006); and Artists, Architects and Artisans: Canadian Art, 1890-1918 (2013). Hill was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2000 and received an honorary doctorate from Concordia University, Montreal, in 2007.

Charles Hill's profile page

Dennis Reid is a professor of art history at the University of Toronto, where he has taught since 1977. He also worked at the Art Gallery of Ontario from 1979 until 2010, latterly as Director of Collections and Research, and at the National Gallery of Canada from 1967, principally as Curator of Post-Confederation Canadian Art (1971 to 1979). The author of numerous publications on Canadian art, including A Concise History of Canadian Painting (third edition forthcoming), he became a Member of the Order of Canada in 1998.

Dennis Reid's profile page

Andrew Hunter is an accomplished curator, artist, writer, and educator. He joined the AGO’s curatorial team on May 1, 2013. He is the co-founder and co-principal of DodoLab, an international program of community collaboration and interdisciplinary creative research.

Born in Hamilton and a graduate of Nova Scotia College of Art & Design (NSCAD), Hunter has held many curatorial positions, including roles at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Kamloops Art Gallery, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and Charlottetown’s Confederation Centre Art Gallery to name a few. He has taught at OCAD University and the University of Waterloo (Faculty of Arts and School of Architecture) and lectured on curatorial practice across Canada, the United States, England, China, and Croatia. As an artist and independent curator, Hunter has exhibited widely, including solo projects at the National Gallery of Canada, Dubrovnik Museum of Modern Art (Croatia), The Rooms Art Gallery (Newfoundland), the Walter Phillips Gallery (Banff Centre), the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Yukon Art Centre, the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery (Concordia University), and with Proboscis (London, UK).

Hunter has contributed to numerous exhibitions including acclaimed retrospectives Tom Thomson and Emily Carr: New Perspectives. Other major projects include The Other Landscape; Come A Singin'; Northern Passage: The Arctic Voyages of Jackson, Harris and Banting and The Road: Constructing the Alaska Highway (Art Gallery of Alberta); To a Watery Grave and Dark Matter: Remembering the Great War (Confederation Centre Art Gallery); Lawren Harris: A Painter’s Progress (Americas Society Art Gallery); Ding Ho Group of 7 (with Gu Xiong, McMichael Canadian Art Collection and Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon); and Thou Shalt Not Steal: Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun and Emily Carr (Vancouver Art Gallery)

Andrew Hunter's profile page

Robert Stacey, an independent curator, art historian, writer and editor, has published extensively on Canadian art historical subjects.

Robert Stacey's profile page

John Wadland, Professor of Canadian Studies at Trent University, was Editor of the Journal of Canadian Studies and Director of the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Native Studies.

John Wadland's profile page

Sandra Webster-Cook, is a Conservator of Paintings at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Sandra Webster-Cook's profile page

Anne Ruggles is Conservator of Paintings at the Art Gallery of Canada.

Anne Ruggles' profile page

Joan Murray, an independent curator and art historian, is considered one of the most accessible of Canadian art writers and has studied and exhibited Tom Thomson for four decades. Since the late 1960s, she has been a curator of several institutions, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, and director of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa (1974-99) and the McMichael Canadian Art Gallery in Kleinburg (2005-6). Murray was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy in 1992 and has been honoured with the Senior Award from the Association of Cultural Executives, the Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Ontario Association of Art Galleries and the Order of Ontario. She lives in Toronto, Ontario

Joan Murray's profile page

"Comprehensive and compelling account of Tom Thomson's life and times"

Toronto Sun

"The art book of the year...a triumph of publishing"

Sun Times

"Tom Thomson is one of the first major multi-authored books on this subject, and it has a critical edge that has been missing in the mostly celebratory, decorative works that have come before." "

Globe & Mail