A Canadian Art Legacy, Twice Dead
On April 2, 2025, a tragedy befell the Toronto art scene: in what is believed to be an act of arson, the red canoe perched atop Canoe Landing was destroyed. For most Torontonians, the destruction of the canoe barely made a blip on their radars, but for those who lived in the community (Gallery Brocante HQ is not far from the location) and/or who follows Canadian or urban art, that piece of public art was significant.
The piece was entitled "Tom Thomson's Canoe", created by renowned Canadian author and artist Douglas Coupland -- yes, the same Douglas Coupland who wrote "Generation X" and "Microserfs", popularizing those terms into pop culture lexicon. Not only that, but as a Canadian, Coupland was inspired by an historic tragedy of Canadian art, which was the disappearance and death of Group of Seven artist, Tom Thomson. Like all Group of Seven artists, Tom Thomson was an avid outdoorsman and that heavily influenced the themes of the artworks that he and the rest of the Group of Seven would become famous for. Thomson specifically spent a lot of time exploring and painting scenes of Algonquin Park.
As the story goes, Thomson disappeared while canoeing in Algonquin Park in July of 1917 and his overturned canoe was discovered the same afternoon, with no sign of Thomson. Eight days later, his body was found with injuries that some insist were not consistent with drowning and thus a Canadian art conspiracy was born. Thomson was 39 years of age at the time and at the prime of his artistic career -- his death was an immense loss for the world of Canadian art.
Therefore, the destruction of Coupland's homage to Thomson and the tragedy of his death represents more than simply an act of vandalism, but assaults against the legacies of two Canadian artists. A tragedy on top of a tragedy.
(An aside: Gallery Brocante is just three degrees of separation from this art tragedy via one of our artworks: "Mill Across the River" by Graham Noble Norwell, who was under tutelage of another Group of Seven artist, Arthus Lismer.)
The only positive outcome of the most recent incident with Thomson's canoe is the hope that Torontonians take notice of and begin to appreciate the urban art in the city. The City of Toronto's public art program, modelled after New York City's, is very successful, attracting pieces from internationally renowned artists like Anish Kapoor and Jaume Plensa. Programs like what exists in Toronto are exactly the kinds of initiatives that make art more accessible to the "Average Joe" and here at Gallery Brocante we can 100% get behind accessible original art.