1916-1917.17
The Drive
Alternate titles: Drive, South River; Log Chute; The Log Chute
Winter 1916–17
Oil on canvas
47 1/4 x 54 1/8 in. (120 x 137.5 cm)
Provenance
Exhibition History
Art Gallery of Toronto, Toronto, Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by Tom Thomson, February 13–29, 1920, no. 28, as The Log Chute.
Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto, Exhibition of Paintings and Sculp¬ture Arranged by the Canadian National Exhibition Association and the Art Gallery of Toronto, August 22, 1952–September 6, 1962, no. 140.
The Stratford Shakespearean Festival, Stratford, Ontario, Canada, Canada on Canvas, June 22–September 14, 1963.
Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven, May 27–June 11, 1967, no. 3, (repr.)
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, The Art of Tom Thomson, October 30–December 12, 1971, 0, no. XV (repr. col.) 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.
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, The Ontario Community Collects: A Survey of Canadian Painting from 1766 to the Present, December 12, 1975–February 1, 1976, no. 91, (repr.)
Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Algonquin Gallery, Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada, Algonquin Memories: Tom Thomson in Algonquin Park, June 25–October 25, 1998, no. 3, (repr. col.)
Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, The Birth of the Modern: Post Impressionism in Canadian Art, c. 1900-1920, November 1, 2001–January 2, 2002, no. 47, (repr.) Traveled to: Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montreal, February 19–March 30, 2002; Museum London, London, Ontario, August 3–October 13, 2002; Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, November 24, 2002–January 26, 2003; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, April 10–June 29, 2003.
National Gallery of Canada; Art Gallery of Ontario, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Tom Thomson, June 7–September 8, 2002, no. 130, (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.
Published References
MacCallum, J.M. "Tom Thomson: Painter of the North." Canadian Magazine 50, no. 5 (March 1918), p. 380 (repr.)
Mortimer-Lamb, Harold. "Canadian Artists and the War." The Studio 65, no. 270 (September 1915), pp. 120 as The Drive, South River (repr.)
Housser, Bess. "In the Realm of Art." Canadian Bookman 8, no. 1 (January 1926), p. 33.
Housser, Frederick Broughton. A Canadian Art Movement: The Story of the Group of Seven. Toronto: Macmillan Company of Canada Limited, 1926, p. 218.
Ontario Agricultural College. "Unveiling of 'The Drive,' a Northern Ontario Landscape Painting by Tom Thomson in the War Memorial Hall, Friday Evening, January 8th, 1926." Guelph: The College, 1926, pp. 254–58.
Davies, Blodwen. A Study of Tom Thomson: The Story of a Man Who Looked for Beauty and for
Truth in the Wilderness. Toronto: The Discus Press, 1935, pp. 102–103.
Buckman, Edward. "With Canadian Pioneers." Magazine of Art 30, no. 9 (September 1937), p. 571 (repr.)
Hubbard, R.H. The Gallery of Canadian Art, 2 Tom Thomson. Toronto: Society For Art Publications and McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1962, pp. 12, fig. 24 (repr.)
Davies, Blodwen. Tom Thomson: The Story of a Man Who Looked for Beauty and for Truth in the
Wilderness. Vancouver: Mitchell Press Limited, 1967, p. 81.
Addison, Ottelyn, Elizabeth Harwood. Tom Thomson, The Algonquin Years. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1969, pp. 58 as South River, 83.
"Tom Thomson Painting Owned by University." University of Guelph News Bulletin 13, no. 7 (13 February 1969), p. 1 (repr.)
Murray, Joan. The Art of Tom Thomson. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1971. Exhibition catalogue, pp. 45, 47 n47–48, 56, 63 (repr. col.)
Lord, Barry. Painting in Canada: Towards a People's Art. Toronto: NC Press, 1974, pp. 129–30 (repr.)
Forsey, William C. The Ontario Community Collects: A Survey of Canadian Painting from 1766 to the.
Present. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1975. Exhibition catalogue, pp. 188–89, 234 (repr.)
Reid. Tom Thomson: The Jack Pine. 5, Masterpieces in the National Gallery of Canada, The National Gallery of Canada. Ottawa: 1975, p. 23.
Town, Harold, and David P. Silcox. Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1977, p. 83 (repr. col.)
Nasby, Judith M. The University of Guelph Art Collection: A Catalogue of Paintings, Drawings, Prints and Sculpture. Guelph: University of Guelph, 1980, pp. 352–53 (repr. col.)
Murray, Joan. Northern Lights: Masterpieces of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. Toronto: Key Porter Books Limited, 1994, p. 44 (repr. col.)
Davis, Ann. Thomson, Thomas John (Tom). Vol. 14 1911-1920, Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998, p. 998.
Rhodes, Richard. A First Book of Canadian Aart. Toronto: Owl Books, 2001, p. 33 (repr. col.)
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. 32, 138–40, 285 (repr. col.), 333n155, 333n167.
Silcox, David P. Tom Thomson: An Introduction to his Life and Art. Toronto: Firefly Books, 2002, p. 42 (repr. col.)
Silcox, David P. The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson. Toronto: Firefly Books, 2003, pp. 211, 255 (repr. col.)
Remarks
According to John McNeil, South River, conversation of 18 August 2001, the dam Thomson depicted is one at Craig Lake at the start of South River.
In a letter from Dr. J.M.MacCallum to Elizabeth Thomson Harkness, 12 January 1926, Dr. James M. MacCallum Papers, Library and Archives, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, MacCallum described the painting as “unfinished.” The conservation report of Ursus Dix, 1970 (Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph Archives) indicates overpaint in the water areas and on some of the logs in the middle ground plus at the right edge. Other titles include The Log Chute.
Record last updated February 16, 2016. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Murray, Joan. ""The Drive, Winter 1916–17 (1916-1917.17)." In Tom Thomson Catalogue Raisonné. www.tomthomsoncatalogue.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=636 (accessed on April 25, 2024).