This beautiful sketch by Thomson was studied by the Canadian Conservation Institute, Ottawa. It noted in a report of March 31, 2015 that it was painted on a birch panel with three horizontal cracks running through it, probably the reason it was relined by a conservator. The Conservation Institute thinks it may have been part of a study done in 1940-1941, writing “Apparently some fragile panels were mounted on 5-ply plywood panels as part of a conservation treatment done at the National Gallery of Canada in 1940-1941. It is possible that the panel under study was part of this group.” It added: “the panel measures 22.3 x 26.7 cm. This does not exactly match the size of support (birch panels or pressed boards) that Thomson started using in 1914, namely 8 ½” by 10 ½”, which would translate to 21.6 x 26.7 cm. Previous investigation of panel sizes done by CCI showed that there is some variation in sizes, with a spread of as much as 1 cm for each side.”
It is difficult to determine the date of the sketch. Its material, birch panel with cracks running through it, suggests 1914, when Thomson and A.Y. Jackson used a similar material prone to cracking, but in these works, the cracking is vertical and occurs many times throughout the panel. The material used in Boathouse seems to be different. As for the variation in size, several sketches done in 1914 are similar so this cannot be viewed as a factor suggesting the work is of another date.
If we look at the painting, Boathouse`s confident, masterly handling, and openness of composition, suggest 1916, as does the use of the colour aquamarine in the sky. In specific, it recalls Pine-Cleft Rocks, done in the spring of 1916 (1916.46) in the handling of the trees and use of colour, and therefore we can date Boathouse as 1916.
Clearly, the time of year of the sketch is summer. Thomson used the same colour green and applied it with similar bold summations in Bateaux (1916.73) and other works of that year.
It could have been painted in August before or after Thomson`s canoe trip with Edward Godin to the Barron Canyon and then to Lake Traverse (see Chronology). The time of day is late afternoon.
If the supposition about the date is correct, the sketch would have been painted at a time when Thomson was beginning to run short of materials so that he occasionally used tiny panels, as in Log Jam (1916.81). That might be the reason he used a birch panel that later developed cracks.
The actual boathouse might be the one connected with Mowat Lodge, where Thomson often stayed. It may even be indicated at the distant upper left in Thomson`s sketch of Mowat Lodge from a height (1914.46).
R.S.Waldie is mentioned on page 34 of Blair Laing’s Memoirs of an Art Dealer, volume one, for his help establishing the Mellors Fine Arts Limited Gallery in security by buying Horatio Walker`s great painting The Royal Mail Crossing the St. Lawrence in 1934 for $5,000. This prominent collector, President of the Imperial Bank of Canada, kindly bought Lawren Harris`s Northern Lake for the University Club in Toronto.
Boathouse is of great significance because it has remained practically unknown outside of the Thomson family and the dealer Blair Laing and, of course, the Waldie family. It is proof of Thomson`s growing self-assurance as a painter and of his ability to produce nature-based work with powerful, though accurate, colour.