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Catalogue entry
1915.94
Blue Lake: Sketch for "In the Northland"
Alternate titles: Blue Lake; In the North Land; In the Northland; Sketch for "In the Northland"; Study for "In the Northland"
Fall 1915
Oil on wood
8 9/16 x 10 9/16 in. (21.7 x 26.9 cm)
Inscription verso: u.l., in graphite, 38; u.l., in black crayon, 20; l.c., in graphite, 57 (circled); u.l.,in graphite, 1915; u.r., in graphite, HML; c.r. in graphite, 29 (circled); l.l., label, in ink, Blue Lake / 38 / James MacCallum; u.r., label, in ink, AGT Dec. 31/40 / Dr. MacCallum
Provenance
Dr. J.M. MacCallum, Toronto, c. 1915
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (4716). 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. 38, lent by MacCallum. Traveled to: Art Association of Montreal, Montreal, March 25–April 12, 1919.1923 Sarnia
Sarnia Conservation Committee, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, Little Picture Show, March 1923.1941 Thomson
Art Gallery of Toronto, Toronto, Horatio Walker - Tom Thomson, January 1941, as Sketch for "In the Northland".1953 Hamilton
Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Inaugural Exhibition, December 1953–January 1954, no. 54, as Study for "In the Northland".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, as In the Northland. 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. 13.1957 Thomson Windsor
Willistead Art Gallery, Windsor, Tom Thomson 1877 - 1917, October 6–November 2, 1957, no. 23.1958 Los Angeles
National Gallery of Canada, Canadian Cultural Exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, Tom Thomson, January–March 1958.1966 Thomson
National Gallery of Canada, New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, Tom Thomson: Sketches, September 2–25, 1966, no. 28, as Blue Lake. 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. 94, (repr.)1971 Thomson
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, The Art of Tom Thomson, October 30–December 12, 1971, no. 84, (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, 1972.1975 Thomson
National Gallery of Canada, Rodman Hall Arts Centre, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, Tom Thomson: The Jack Pine, September 12–October 5, 1975, no. 5. Traveled to: Nova Scotia Museum of Arts, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, October 20–November 2, 1975; Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, March 31–April 25, 1976; Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, May 28–June 20, 1976; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, October 5–December 5, 1976.1990 Thomson
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Tom Thomson, June 16–September 16, 1990.2002 Thomson
National Gallery of Canada; Art Gallery of Ontario, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Tom Thomson, June 7–September 8, 2002, no. 65, (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. 32.2011 Dulwich
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven, October 19, 2011–January 8, 2012, no. 15, Pl. 3 (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
Sarnia Observer 1923
"Art Exhibition Opens Tomorrow Public Library." Sarnia Observer, 22 March 1923.Atherton 1947
Atherton, Ray. "The Man in a Canoe." The Man in a Canoe. Canadian Art 5, no. 2 (Christmas 1947), p. 57 (repr.)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. 309 (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. 15 (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. 49 (repr.)Murray 1971
Murray, Joan. The Art of Tom Thomson. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1971. Exhibition catalogue, pp. 42, 82, 95 (repr.)Smith, G 1974
Smith, George L. Norman Gurd and the Group of 7: A History of the Sarnia Art Movement. Brights Grove, ON: G.L. Smith, 1974, p. 17.Reid 1975
Reid. Tom Thomson: The Jack Pine. 5, Masterpieces in the National Gallery of Canada, The National Gallery of Canada. Ottawa: 1975, p. 15 (repr.)Brink 1977
Brink, Andrew. "Tom Thomson and the Personal Meaning of Landscape." Copperfield: An independent Canadian Literary Magazine of the Land and of the North 6 (1977), p. 33.Thom 1990
Thom, Ian M. Tom Thomson. Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1990. Exhibition catalogue.Davis 1998a
Davis, Ann. Thomson, Thomas John (Tom). Vol. 14 1911-1920, Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998, p. 998.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. 133–34, 150, 218 (repr. col.)Dejardin 2011
Dejardin, Ian. Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and The Group of Seven. London: Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2011. Exhibition catalogue, p. 66 (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. ""Blue Lake: Sketch for "In the Northland", Fall 1915 (1915.94)." In Tom Thomson Catalogue Raisonné. www.tomthomsoncatalogue.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=373 (accessed on May 13, 2025).