"TORONTO ARTIST MISSING IN NORTH", Globe, July 13, 1917

Tom Thomson Missing From Canoe Lake Since Sunday – A Talented Landscapist

Toronto art circles were shocked yesterday at the news received from Algonquin Park that Tom Thomson, one of the most talented of the younger artists of the city, had been missing since Sunday and was thought to have been drowned or the victim of foul play. Mr. Thomson was last seen at Canoe Lake at noon on Sunday, and at 3.30 in the afternoon his canoe was found adrift in the lake, upside down. There was no storm, only a light wind prevailing, and the fact that both paddles were in place in the canoe as if for a portage, adds to the mystery. Mr. Thomson carried a light fishing rod and this and his dunnage bag were missing.

A Lover of the Wilderness.

Mr. Thomson, who made his home in the city at the Studio building in Severn street, was especially fond of the woods, and spent more than half of each year in the northern wilderness. He has risen rapidly in esteem as a landscape painter, his interpretation of the north country having an indefinable charm and feeling that could only come from a deep love of nature. One of this paintings, “Northern River,” attracted much attention at the Ontario Society of Artists Exhibition a year or so ago, and was subsequently bought by the National Gallery at Ottawa.

Once Lived in B.C.

Mr. Thomson came from Owen Sound, where his father still lives. Part of his forty-two years of life were spent in British Columbia. After coming to Toronto a few years ago he was engaged for a time in commercial art. There is still a chance that Mr. Thomson may be alive, but this is considered doubtful as four days’ search has failed to find a trace of him.