“Tom Thomson’s Algonquin October 2015” is a mural painted by William Lazos. It is part of the Group of Seven Outdoor Gallery and is displayed at the back of the Algonquin Theatre facing High Street.
The Group of Seven Outdoor Gallery was founded by local artist Gerry Lantaigne and includes more than 90 murals celebrating the works Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven at locations across Eastern Muskoka and Algonquin Park.
William Lazos’s mural (top) of Tom Thomson’s “Algonquin October 2015” (bottom), The original is an oil on wood panel measuring 26.9 x 21.6 cm.
About the artists
The murals in the Group of Seven Outdoor Gallery have been painted by some of Canada’s top mural artists. Their mandate was to recreate the masterpieces as close as possible to the originals, with little or no artistic license, attempting to match the original prints colour for colour and brush stroke for brush stroke.
(Above) The murals displayed on the Algonquin Theatre include “Tom Thomson’s Algonquin October 2015” (at right)
“These murals represent our natural landscape, and so fittingly help us tell a story about ourselves,” notes founder Gerry Lantaigne. “The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson were masters of composition, using colour, line work, light and design elements to strengthen their artistic statement. Please enjoy these murals as presented to you, for each one is a statement unto itself, and holds many secrets of what makes a masterpiece work of art.”
William Lazos is a Toronto-based muralist.
Tom Thomson first visited Algonquin Park in 1912 and fell in love with its beauty. Although he had been painting for a few years already, he came into his own once he began painting in the park.
By the age of 37, he was living in Algonquin Park in his own shack on Canoe Lake from spring to autumn, sometimes serving as a fishing guide and a fire ranger to make ends meet, and in Toronto during the winter.
In his brief professional career, which was cut short by his untimely death in 1917 at the age of 39, he produced about 50 canvases and more than 400 sketches.
The Group of Seven Outdoor Gallery is free to view. Maps of the locations can be found at thegroupofsevenoutdoorgallery.com.
See more local art in Doppler’s Art Fx series here.
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