| |
| |
Title: |
The Birch Grove, Autumn, (1916-17) |
| |
Artist: |
Tom Thomson |
| |
Medium: |
oil on canvas |
| |
Size: |
99 x 115.6 cm |
| |
Donor: |
Gift of Roy G. Cole in memory of his parents, Matthew and Annie Bell Gilmore Cole, 1967 |
|
Thomson’s painting of birch trees in autumn is not a typical landscape. The artist’s style is somewhat abstract, as he has simplified many elements of the forest. Notice how he has divided the forest floor into bright, fall-coloured sections, almost resembling a patchwork quilt.
His palette stays within the warm colours, with a heavy use of reds and oranges, browns and grays. Thomson has created a rough and jagged landscape, in an effort to visually convey what he is seeing in the Canadian forests.
Thomson has created rhythm through the repetition of certain visual elements such as line, colour, texture and shape. The birch trees are all slender, vertical lines, which are repeated in close proximity to one another across the top half of the composition. These trees seem to dance and sway across the central rocky hilltop, which acts as a base. Note the rhythm of the brushstrokes, found throughout the rocks, twisted branches and sections of ground. Thomson repeats his thick brushstrokes over and over again—on one rock his strokes may be horizontal, while on another the brushstrokes are vertical. This back-and-forth repetition of line creates a rhythmic feel to the landscape.
Note the two birch trees he has placed in the foreground—these guide our eyes from the earth to the treetops and back again. The patchy appearance of the rocky ground makes our eyes jump towards each of the colourful spots. Thomson has placed his brightest and warmest colours into the foremost sections of the painting (i.e. the foreground), and pushed the cooler colours to the background portions of the painting. This keeps us focused on the foreground elements, while still creating a feeling of depth.
The asymmetrical composition adds to the rugged appearance of the landscape. The artist has created a feeling of weight in the bottom of the painting, with the placement of thick, heavy patches of colour. This contrasts with the upper portion of the painting, which is rendered with long, slender, vertical lines. If we were to turn this painting upside down, the contrast in weight becomes more apparent. Thomson’s thick brushstrokes add a great deal of texture to the work, which enhance the rugged and rocky landscape. All elements of this painting are painted very thickly, giving the surface a patterned appearance. Thomson outlines his shapes, as seen in the rocks and patches of ground in the foreground. This emphasizes their form and gives more weight to the composition. |
