Using the Catalogue

We hope the information below provides a deeper understanding of decisions that were made in creating the Tom Thomson Catalogue Raisonné website, and that this will help you derive more from your experience.

Images

We have made every effort to provide a high-quality digital colour image of each painting. In some cases only a black and white image appears. A gray box indicates the lack of an available image for a given artwork. As new and better images are obtained, they will be added to the catalogue.

Images that appear on the Catalogue index page are linked, as are their titles, to their corresponding entries in the Catalogue. Everywhere else on the site, clicking on an image enlarges it. Enlarging an image will simultaneously open a “magnifier” that can be moved “over its surface” to obtain higher resolution and greater detail. This feature may not be available on images of low resolution.

On the search-results pages for the Catalogue, the Collections, the Exhibitions, and the Literature there are three ways to display the works: as thumbnails (the default), in sizes relative one to the other, or as a list with small images. The options are indicated by their respective icons at the upper right-hand corner of the results page.

By bookmarking an image, its corresponding Catalogue entry is bookmarked (see Bookmarks below).

Titles

Alternate titles are also given, representing those from other institutions or private collections and those listed in exhibition catalogues or in literature. All of the paintings can be accessed by full or partial titles in the search bar at top right.

Throughout the site, works’ titles are linked to their full corresponding Catalogue entries.

Provenance

The ownership history, past and current, is provided for each entry. In some cases the year of acquisition is included as well. Individual owners are linked to a listing of other paintings in their collections by clicking on their names. In a number of cases, the current location of a work is listed simply as “Private collection” out of consideration for the privacy of the owner.

Collections can be bookmarked (see Bookmarks below).

Exhibitions

Exhibitions appear in chronological order and each entry is connected to a listing of the entire show by clicking on the abbreviated form (year and city). An exhibition is virtually “recreated” in colour and can be viewed either as thumbnails or the paintings in relative size.

Exhibitions can be bookmarked (see Bookmarks below).

Literature

Due to the sheer magnitude of the Catalogue, it is almost impossible to cite every bibliographic reference or illustration, especially in publications where Tom Thomson is represented in only a few instances. The author has attempted to include those that are most relevant.

Click on the abbreviation to access the entire publication.

Published references can be bookmarked (see Bookmarks below).

Filters

The Filter button appears on the upper left-hand corner of the Catalogue, Collections, Exhibitions, and Literature index pages.

Filters are a way to collect certain materials from the Catalogue and exclude items that are not relevant to the set.

Filters on the Catalogue index page include Medium, and Years; filters on the Collections index page include collection type, whether a work is currently owned or not, and Country; filters on the Exhibitions index page include exhibition type, decade, and Country; filters on the Literature index page include literature type, decade, and author etc.

When a filter is selected, it immediately delimits the field that is visible below it. More than one filter can be selected, and each time the field is further delimited.

Filtered results appear with a check mark in the selected filter box, also indicating the number of results in the chosen field. Filters can be unchecked to remove the selection.

A Permalink also appears which enables returning to the selected group without having to repeat all the steps again.

Removing the filters at the top of the page brings back the full index.

Slideshows

Click an image singly, or from any array, to open a slideshow. A magnifying glass icon needs to appear when hovering for the image to trigger a slideshow. Slideshows can’t be opened from the Catalogue index page.

All slideshows open to fit the screen regardless of which viewing option you begin with. A “magnifier” appears when the slideshow opens. Move left or right using the graphical arrows on either side of the screen, or use the computer’s left and right arrow keys. Use the “esc” key to close the slideshow.

On a Catalogue entry page, slideshows can be activated from a number of different points, assuming there’s more than one image to be accessed: from the main image; from one of the related works; from one of the supplementary images; by clicking on images found in the filters; or by clicking on images found in the keywords.

Slideshows can also be opened from a Collection page, an Exhibition page (with pertinent supplementary materials included), a Literature page, or from the Supplementary Images pages.

Bookmarks 

You can bookmark an entry, a collection, an exhibition, or a published reference.

When displayed, bookmarked images are defaulted to new Catalogue number order. Other bookmarks are displayed in chronological order.

Bookmarks are automatically saved and accessed from the side menu under your login name.

Searches

The Quick Search box found under the search tab is for searching a single section only. The box can be toggled to search through other sections on the website. For more complex searches however, use the advanced search link.

A quick search of the works in the Catalogue searches by title, keyword, or catalogue number. A quick search of the Collections searches by owner/institution name, or city (for countries use the filters). A quick search of the Exhibitions searches by venue, title, city, or year (for countries use the filters). A quick search of the Literature searches by author, title, publisher, journal, newspaper name, or year of publication.

Printing

Most every section of the Catalogue can be printed by clicking on the icon at top right. Individual Catalogue entries include the complete provenance, exhibition and published reference information. A collection, exhibition or publication can be printed in various formats: in thumbnail, relative size or list view. The correct citation for the Catalogue appears at the bottom of the printed page and includes the date the entry was accessed.