Tom Òhomson (1877-1917). Paintings from the Collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada

On 10 September 2004 an exhibition of works of art by Tom Thomson (1877 - 1917) and coming from the collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa opened in the Alexander Hall of the State Hermitage. The exhibition features around 60 paintings and oil sketches done by the artist in the period between 1910 and his death. It has been organized by the State Hermitage together with The Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, and The Hermitage Foudation of Canada Inc., with sponsorship from Barrick Gold Corporation and the Department of Canadian Heritage Museums Assistance Program.

Tom Thomson emerged onto the scene of Canadian culture in the second decade of the twentieth century and he left a heritage that is key to an understanding of the development of Canadian art. His artistic career is unique in that it lasted only six years. His works reveal a passionate and profound connection to the northern wilderness, expressed with a keen and masterful artistic perception.

Among the most important paintings by Tom Thomson presented at the exhibition are The West Wind and The Jack Pine, both painted in the last year of the artist’s life. These two paintings are widely recognized as icons of Canadian art, which demonstrates the singular achievement that Thomson made as an artist. Undoubtedly they inspired the later development of painting by the Group of Seven. These paintings are exhibited together for the first time in 35 years.

This retrospective of paintings by Tom Thomson is part of the exhibition partnership of the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Hermitage which goes back to 1998 and which allowed Canadian audiences to see the exhibition Rubens and His Age: Masterpieces of 17th Century Flemish Painting (2001) and Voyage into Myth: French Painting from Gauguin to Matisse from the Hermitage Museum (2002). In the fall of 2005, Catherine the Great: From the St Hermitage Museum, Russia will debut at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

The exhibition’s curators are Mr. Dennis Reid, Chief Curator, The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Mr Charles C. Hill, Curator, Canadian Historical Art, The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and Dr. Alexander Babin, Chief Curator, Department of Western European Art, The State Hermitage. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated brochure in English and Russian which was prepared by the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.

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At the press-conference at the Hermitage Theater

At the exhibition

Exhibition booklet