1913.20
Sky ("The Light that Never Was")
Summer 1913
Oil on canvas board
6 7/8 x 9 7/8 in. (17.5 x 25.1 cm)
Inscription verso: l.r., estate stamp; t., in graphite, Thomson saw this in early morning - Had spent all night in his / canoe out on the Lake because of the flies - 1913 MacCallum ; in graphite, The light that never was / Nor is, by land or sea (in ink) James MacCallum
Provenance
Exhibition History
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, The Art of Tom Thomson, October 30–December 12, 1971, no. 9, (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.
David Mirvish Gallery, Toronto, Tom Thomson Exhibition, October 15–November 14, 1977.
Published References
Hubbard, R.H. National Gallery of Canada, Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. Vol. III, Canadian School. Ottawa, Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1960, p. 299.
Murray, Joan. The Art of Tom Thomson. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1971. Exhibition catalogue, pp. 26, 66 (repr.)
Town, Harold, and David P. Silcox. Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1977, pp. 60, 69 (repr. col.)
Murray, Joan. Tom Thomson: Design for a Canadian Hero. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1998, p. 65.
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. ""Sky ("The Light that Never Was"), Summer 1913 (1913.20)." In Tom Thomson Catalogue Raisonné. www.tomthomsoncatalogue.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=146 (accessed on May 2, 2025).