Image: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Vaughan
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection has spotlighted two paintings from its holdings: J.E.H. MacDonald’s ‘Algoma Bush, September’ and Tom Thomson’s ‘Algonquin Park, September’. The collection presentation identifies both works through their artists, titles and dates, placing them alongside one another as examples of Canadian landscape painting from the early 20th century.
MacDonald’s ‘Algoma Bush, September’ was made in 1920. The work is an oil on paperboard measuring 21.1 by 26.7 centimetres, according to the collection information. It belongs to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and entered the museum through a gift from Mr. R.A. Laidlaw in 1966. Its collection number is 1966.15.3.
The second work is Thomson’s ‘Algonquin Park, September’, dated 1913. The available information identifies the medium as oil, but the supplied caption is truncated before giving the support, dimensions or collection history. No further details about the work’s provenance or accession number are provided in the source material.
The two paintings are linked by their September dates and by their references to named Ontario regions: Algoma in MacDonald’s title and Algonquin Park in Thomson’s. The collection spotlight does not provide a curatorial statement, exhibition title or additional account of how the works are being displayed or interpreted.
McMichael Canadian Art Collection is based in Vaughan, Ontario. The announcement contains no exhibition or event dates and does not state that the works are part of a temporary exhibition. It presents the paintings as collection highlights rather than announcing a new acquisition or a scheduled programme. The available source material is limited to the two work identifications and the accompanying collection details.
