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1915.16
The Opening of the Rivers: Sketch for "Spring Ice"
Alternate titles: Ice Breaking Up; Opening of the Rivers
Spring 1915
Oil on composite wood-pulp board
8 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (21.6 x 26.7 cm)
Inscription recto: l.l., TOM THOMSON; l.r., estate stamp
Inscription verso: c., estate stamp; l.l., label, (in graphite) Canoe Lake – / and in ink, The opening of the Rivers; in graphite, breaking up of the ice, (ink) 47. James MacCallum; r., in ink, Dr.W [...]; u.l., in graphite, 19
Inscription verso: c., estate stamp; l.l., label, (in graphite) Canoe Lake – / and in ink, The opening of the Rivers; in graphite, breaking up of the ice, (ink) 47. James MacCallum; r., in ink, Dr.W [...]; u.l., in graphite, 19
Provenance
Estate of the artist
Dr. J.M. MacCallum, Toronto, by 1919
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (4662). Bequest of Dr. J.M. MacCallum, Toronto, 1944
Exhibition History
1919 Thomson
Arts Club, Montreal, Exhibition of Paintings by the Late Tom Thomson, March 1, 1919, no. 47, as The Opening of the Rivers as lent by MacCallum. Traveled to: Art Association of Montreal, Montreal, March 25–April 12, 1919.1926 AGT Canadian
Art Gallery of Toronto, Toronto, Exhibition of Canadian Paintings, 1926, no. 50, as Ice Breaking Up.1941 Thomson
Art Gallery of Toronto, Toronto, Horatio Walker - Tom Thomson, January 1941.1955 Thomson
National Gallery of Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Tom Thomson Travelling Exhibition: Sketches and Painting from the National Gallery of Canada Collection, November 10–December 6, 1955. Traveled to: Calgary Allied Arts Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, December 13, 1955–January 1, 1956; University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, February 2–22, 1956; Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, March 1–8, 1956; Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, March 13–25, 1956; University of British Columbia, Fine Arts Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, April 3–28, 1956; Regina Public Library, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, May 5–25, 1956; Saskatoon Art Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, June 1–21, 1956; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, July 1–30, 1956; Sarnia Public Library, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, August 1956; Kitchener-Waterloo Art Association, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, October 8, 1956; Yarmouth Art Society, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, October 31–November 12, 1956; Colchester Chapter of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E.), Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada, November 15–24, 1956; Louisburg Chapter of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (I.O.D.E.), Louisburg, Nova Scotia, November 27–December 6, 1956; Amherst Art Association, Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada, December 10, 1956–December 24, 1965; Moncton Society of Art, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, January 24–February 2, 1957; Fredericton Art Club, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, February 6–20, 1957; University of New Brunswich, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, February 20–March 6, 1957; Art Centre, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, March 9–20, 1957; Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, April 4–18, 1957; Nova Scotia College of Art, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, April 18–May 1, 1957; Glenhyrst Gardens, Brantford, Ontario, Canada, June 22–July 2, 1957; London Public Library and Art Museum, London, Ontario, July–September 1957; Willistead Library and Art Gallery, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, October 1–November 5, 1957; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, November 15–December 15, 1957.1956 Thomson
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, Tom Thomson Exhibition, 1877 - 1917, September–October 1956, no. 30.1957 Thomson London
London Public Library and Art Museum, London, Ontario, Tom Thomson 1877 - 1917, George Thomson 1868 -, July 6–September 6, 1957, no. 14.1957 Thomson Windsor
Willistead Art Gallery, Windsor, Tom Thomson 1877 - 1917, October 6–November 2, 1957, no. 20.1958 Los Angeles
National Gallery of Canada, Canadian Cultural Exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, Tom Thomson, January–March 1958.1961 London
London Public Library and Art Museum, London, Ontario, The Face of Early Canada: Milestones of Canadian Paintings, February 1961.1966 Thomson
National Gallery of Canada, New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, Tom Thomson: Sketches, September 2–25, 1966, no. 16. Traveled to: Memorial Art Gallery, St. John's, Canada, October 7–30, 1966; Kitchener-Waterloo Gallery, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, November 10–December 4, 1966; Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, December 16, 1966–January 8, 1967; Sir George Williams University, Montreal, January 20–February 12, 1967; London Art Museum, London, Ontario, February 24–March 19, 1967; Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, March 31–April 23, 1967; Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, May 5–28, 1967; Dartmouth's Canadian Year, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 6–30, 1967 (Separate exhibition catalogue); Confederation Centenary Celebration, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, October 15–November 5, 1967; Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, November 19–December 10, 1967; Willistead Art Gallery, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, January 4–28, 1968; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, February 11–March 3, 1968; Calgary Allied Arts Council, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, March 17–April 7, 1968; Mendel Art Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, April 21–May 12, 1968; Brandon Allied Arts Centre, Brandon, Manitoba, May 26–June 16, 1968.1969 MacCallum
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, The MacCallum Bequest of Paintings by Tom Thomson and Other Canadian Painters & the Mr. and Mrs. H.R. Jackman Gift of Murals from the Late Dr. MacCallum's Cottage Painted by Some of the Members of the Group of Seven, January 25–February 23, 1969, no. 104, as 1916.1970 NGC
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, The Group of Seven, June 19–September 8, 1970, no. 58, (repr.) Traveled to: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, September 22–October 31, 1970.1971 Thomson
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, The Art of Tom Thomson, October 30–December 12, 1971, no. 51, (repr.) Traveled to: Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, January 15–February 3, 1972; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, February 25–March 31, 1972; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, April 14–May 28, 1972; Confederation Art Gallery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, July 2–September 5, 1972.1976 Saint John
Department of New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, Seven Plus: A Selection of Work by the Group of Seven Arranged by Department of New Brunswick Museum, June 5–July 30, 1976, no. 18. Traveled to: The Art Gallery, Memorial University Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada, August 15–September 12, 1976 (Exhibition title: The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson); Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, September 20–October 17, 1976 (Exhibition title: The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson); The Gallery Stratford, Stratford, Ontario, Canada, December 3, 1976–January 2, 1977 (Exhibition title: The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson).1977 Mirvish
David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, Tom Thomson Exhibition, October 15–November 14, 1977.2002 Thomson
National Gallery of Canada; Art Gallery of Ontario, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Tom Thomson, June 7–September 8, 2002, no. 43, (repr. col.) Traveled to: Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, October 5, 2002–January 5, 2003; Musée du Québec, Quebec City, February 6–April 3, 2003; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, May 30–September 7, 2003; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, September 29–December 7, 2003.2004 St. Petersburg
Art Gallery of Ontario, Alexander Hall, The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, Tom Thomson, September 10–November 14, 2004, no. 22.2011 Dulwich
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven, October 19, 2011–January 8, 2012, no. 2, Pl. 7 (repr. col.) Traveled to: National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo, Norway, January 29–May 13, 2012; The Groninger Museum, Groninger, the Netherlands, June 3–October 28, 2012.Published References
Gazette 1919
"A Painter of the Wilds." Gazette (Montreal), 28 March 1919.McInnes 1937a
McInnes, G.C. "Art World." Saturday Night 52, no. 20 (20 March 1937).Saunders 1947
Saunders, Audrey. Algonquin Story. Toronto: Department of Lands and Forests, 1947, p. 170.Swinton 1956
Swinton, George. "Tom Thomson Exhibit." Winnipeg Tribune, 7 February 1956.Hubbard 1960b
Hubbard, R.H. National Gallery of Canada, Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. Vol. III, Canadian School. Ottawa, Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1960, p. 301 as Spring Ice (repr.)Hubbard 1962
Hubbard, R.H. The Gallery of Canadian Art, 2 Tom Thomson. Toronto: Society For Art Publications and McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1962, fig. 18 (repr.)Addison 1969
Addison, Ottelyn, Elizabeth Harwood. Tom Thomson, The Algonquin Years. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1969, pp. 40, 42 (repr.)Reid 1969
Reid, Dennis. The MacCallum Bequest of Paintings by Tom Thomson and Other Canadian Painters & the Mr. and Mrs. HR. Jackman Gift of the Murals from the Late Dr. MacCallum's Cottage Painted by Some Members of the Group of Seven. Ottawa: The National Gallery of Canada, 1969. Exhibition catalogue, p. 51.Little 1970
Little, William T. The Tom Thomson Mystery. Toronto: McGraw-Hill, 1970, p. 34.Reid 1970
Reid, Dennis. The Group of Seven. Ottawa: The National Gallery of Canada, 1970. Exhibition catalogue, p. 95 (repr.)Murray 1971
Murray, Joan. The Art of Tom Thomson. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1971. Exhibition catalogue, pp. 38, 75 (repr.)Town & Silcox 1977
Town, Harold, and David P. Silcox. Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1977, p. 70 (repr.)Murray 1994b
Murray, Joan. Northern Lights: Masterpieces of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. Toronto: Key Porter Books Limited, 1994, p. 58 (repr. col.)Newlands 1995
Newlands, Anne. The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson: An Introduction. Willowdale, ON: Buffalo, New York, 1995, p. 26 (repr. col.)Davis 1998a
Davis, Ann. Thomson, Thomas John (Tom). Vol. 14 1911-1920, Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998, p. 997.Reid and Hill 2002
Reid, Dennis and Charles C. Hill. Tom Thomson. Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre with the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada, 2002. Exhibition catalogue, pp. 132, 196 (repr. col.)Dejardin 2011
Dejardin, Ian. Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and The Group of Seven. London: Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2011. Exhibition catalogue, p. 70 (repr. col.)Murray 2011
Murray, Joan. A Treasury of Tom Thomson. Vancouver, Toronto, Berkeley: Douglas & McIntyre, 2011, p. 91 (repr. col.)Record last updated March 3, 2016. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Murray, Joan. ""The Opening of the Rivers: Sketch for "Spring Ice", Spring 1915 (1915.16)." In Tom Thomson Catalogue Raisonné. www.tomthomsoncatalogue.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=295 (accessed on April 25, 2024).