1000 Museums

Tom Thomson (b. 1877 – d. 1917) was a Canadian artist who was best known for his oil paintings of the Ontario North. Born and raised in Leith, Ontario in the municipality of Meaford, Thomson spent much of his childhood exploring the woodland landscapes that surrounded his home. His attachment to nature stands at the heart of his artistic career, which continually showcases the beauty of the environmental composition. In 1901 Thomson went to school for business but after working in Seattle for a brief period, he relocated to Toronto where he accepted a position as a commercial pen artist. In 1911 he began to pursue painting as a hobby but soon made it into his full-time career. Thomson drew on his years of design experience as well as his passion for the Canadian wilderness in order to create stunningly stylized images of the natural world. As one of the first prominent artists to focus on depicting Canadian landscapes, Thomson played an important role in shaping widespread conceptions of this region.