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Catalogue entry
1916-1917.12
Chill November
Alternate titles: First Snow Ducks; November; Wild Geese
Winter 1916–17
Oil on canvas
34 7/16 x 40 5/16 in. (87.5 x 102.4 cm)
Inscription recto: l.r., TOM THOMSON
Provenance
Estate of the artist
Women's Conservation Association, Sarnia, 1920 as November
Gallery Lambton (now Judith & Norman ALIX Art Gallery), Sarnia 56.26. Gift of the Sarnia Women's Conservation Art Association, 1956
Exhibition History
1919 Thomson
Arts Club, Montreal, Exhibition of Paintings by the Late Tom Thomson, March 1, 1919, no. 56. Traveled to: Art Association of Montreal, Montreal, March 25–April 12, 1919.1920 Thomson
Art Gallery of Toronto, Toronto, Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by Tom Thomson, February 13–29, 1920, no. 19.1920 Sarnia (2)
Sarnia Art Gallery, Sarnia, Ontario, Canadian Paintings, November 1920, no. 41.1925 Wembley
British Empire, Fine Arts Galleries, Wembley Park, London, British Empire Exhibition, Canadian Section of Fine Arts, May 9–October 1925, no. E.E.21. Traveled to: Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, November 26–December 23, 1925 (as Exhibition of Canadian Art); York City Art Gallery, United Kingdom, January 16–February 13, 1926; Corporation Art Gallery, Bury, United Kingdom, February 20–March 20, 1926 (as Exhibition of Canadian Art); Blackpool, United Kingdom, March 27–April 24, 1926; Corporation Art Gallery, Rochdale, United Kingdom, May 1–29, 1926 (as Exhibition of Canadian Art); Corporation Art Gallery, Oldham, United Kingdom, June 12–July 10, 1926 (as Exhibition of Canadian Art); Cartwright Memorial Hall, Bradford, United Kingdom, July 17–August 14, 1926; Queen's Park Branch Art Gallery, Manchester, United Kingdom, August 28–October 9, 1926 (as Exhibition of Canadian Pictures); Sheffield, United Kingdom, October 15–December 11, 1926; Municipal Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth, United Kingdom, January 12–February 12, 1927.1927 Paris
Musée & du Jeu de Paume, Paris, Exposition d'art canadien, April 10–May 10, 1927, no. 228.1930 AFA
American Federation of Arts, Corcoran Art Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Exhibition of Paintings by Contem¬porary Canadian Artists under the Auspices of the American Federation of Arts, March 9–30, 1930, no. 55, as Wild Geese. Traveled to: Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island, April 1930; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, April 4–May 28, 1930; Grand Central Art Galleries, New York, June 1930; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, July 1930; City Art Museum, St. Louis, August 1930.1932 Thomson
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Imperial Economic Conference, July 18, 1932–January 23, 1933, no. 14.1935 AGT Margaret Eaton
Art Gallery of Toronto, Loan Exhibition of Paintings Celebrating the Opening of the Margaret Eaton Gallery and the East Gallery, November 8, 1935, no. 155.1937 Thomson
Mellors Galleries, 759 Yonge Street, Toronto, Loan Exhibition of Works by Tom Thomson, Mellors Galleries, March 13–31, 1937, no. 58, lent by Women's Conservation Art Association, Sarnia.1938 Tate
Tate, London, A Century of Canadian Art, October 15–December 15, 1938, no. 211.1941 Thomson
Art Gallery of Toronto, Toronto, Horatio Walker - Tom Thomson, January 1941.1956 Thomson
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, Tom Thomson Exhibition, 1877 - 1917, September–October 1956, no. 3.1957 Thomson London
London Public Library and Art Museum, London, Ontario, Tom Thomson 1877 - 1917, George Thomson 1868 -, July 6–September 6, 1957, no. 30.1957 Thomson Windsor
Willistead Art Gallery, Windsor, Tom Thomson 1877 - 1917, October 6–November 2, 1957, no. 6.1966 Vancouver
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Images for a Canadian Heritage, September 1966, no. 68, as 1915.1967 NGC (1)
Willistead Art Gallery, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Canadian Painting 1850 - 1950, January 8–February 12, 1967, no. 32. Traveled to: London Art Gallery, London, Ontario, February 17–March 26, 1967; Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, April 1–May 7, 1967; Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, May 12–June 10, 1967; Rothmans Art Gallery of Stratford, Stratford, Ontario, Canada, June 16–July 30, 1967; Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, August 9–September 9, 1967; Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, September 15–October 10, 1967; Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, October 20–November 18, 1967; Confederation Art Centre, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, November 30–December 30, 1967; The New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, January 15–February 15, 1968; Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, February–March 1968; Musée du Québec, Québec City, March 15–April 14, 1968.1969 Thomson
Tom Thomson Memorial Gallery, Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, Paintings by Tom Thomson: The Second Anniversary Exhibition, May 23–June 15, 1969, no. 2.1971 Thomson
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, The Art of Tom Thomson, October 30–December 12, 1971, no. 110, (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 Sarnia
Sarnia Public Library and Art Gallery, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, Group of Seven and Friends, September 3–October 1, 1975, no. 43.1975 AGO
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. 90, (repr.)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. 128, (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 Sarnia
Gallery Lambton, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, How Artists Work: From first idea to final realization, 2004.2010 Kleinburg
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada, Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven, October 2, 2010–January 30, 2011.Published References
Gazette 1919
"A Painter of the Wilds." Gazette (Montreal), 28 March 1919.Fairley 1920
Fairley, Barker. "Tom Thomson and Others." Rebel 6, no. 6 (March 1920), p. 246.Sarnia Observer 1920
"'Canadian Art' An Instructive Talk is Heard Here." Sarnia Observer, 20 November 1920.Sarnia Observer 1925
"Famous Picture Owned in Sarnia Goes to England." Sarnia Observer, 31 January 1925.Housser 1926
Housser, Frederick Broughton. A Canadian Art Movement: The Story of the Group of Seven. Toronto: Macmillan Company of Canada Limited, 1926, pp. 117, 121–22 as First Snow Ducks.Barbeau 1932a
Barbeau, Marius. "Tells Remarkable Story Progress and Achievement." Ottawa Evening Citizen, 27 July 1932.Davies 1935
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, p. 110.Homes and Gardens 1935
"Around the Galleries." Canadian Homes and Gardens 12, no. 12 (December 1935), (repr.)Burgoyne 1937a
Burgoyne, St. George. "Tom Thomson, Painter of the Wilds, Lost to Canadian Art 20 Years Ago." Gazette (Montreal), 25 September 1937.Sarnia Observer 1938
"'Chill November' is sent to Tate Gallery." Sarnia Observer, 25 August 1938.Buchanan 1945
Buchanan, Donald W. Canadian Painters from Paul Kane to the Group of Seven. Oxford & London: Phaidon Press, 1945, fig. 39 (repr.)Jackson 1958
Jackson, A.Y. A Painter's Country: The Autobiography of À.Y. Jackson. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Co., 1958, p. 42.Davies 1967
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. 87.Addison 1969
Addison, Ottelyn, Elizabeth Harwood. Tom Thomson, The Algonquin Years. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1969, p. 46.Murray 1971
Murray, Joan. The Art of Tom Thomson. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1971. Exhibition catalogue, pp. 44, 88, 96 (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, pp. 12–14, 20, 38, 41.Forsey 1975
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. 186–87, 233–34 (repr.)Town & Silcox 1977
Town, Harold, and David P. Silcox. Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1977, p. 139 (repr. col.)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. 140, 283 (repr. col.)Taylor 2004
Taylor, David G. How Artists Work: From first idea to final realization. Sarnia, ON: Gallery Lambton, 2004. Exhibition catalogue, p. 7 (repr.)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. ""Chill November, Winter 1916–17 (1916-1917.12)." In Tom Thomson Catalogue Raisonné. www.tomthomsoncatalogue.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=631 (accessed on May 14, 2025).