To the notion that everything has been said about the iconic Canadian artist Tom Thomson (1877-1917), colleague of the famed Group of Seven, this book brings many surprises. Six expertly written essays contribute to a new understanding of Thomson's place in the rise of a truly national art. For the first time, here is the artist's oeuvre attentively considered in the context of the period in which he lived.

Andrew Hunter's essay views Thomson in life, as a participating artist of his time, and after his death, as he was defined by his colleagues, family and friends, through exhibitions and the popular media.

John Wadland positions Thomson in Ontario locales just when the meaning of the North as useful land was significantly changing from the service of one industry, logging, to another, tourism.

Dennis Reid situates Thomson's aesthetic in the Arts and Crafts movement as it was practised in Toronto in 1905, the year he settled in the city.

Robert Stacey traces Thomson's career as a graphic artist, illustrator and creator of advertising designs.

Charles C. Hill's lead essay is structured biographically. It offers an insightful interpretation and stylistic analysis of Thomson's work, looking at the paintings in chronological order, thus considering them season by season, to track the artist's development.

Both thoroughly familiar with artists' techniques and materials in their professional capacity, Sandra Webster-Cook and Anne Ruggles write about Thomson's methods and palette, showing how he made use of typical painting supports but manipulated colour in ways that affected, to varying degrees, the design surface. This thoughtfully conceived book, with 140 colour illustrations, and accompanying a major Tom Thomson exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Musée du Québec, clearly marks an important advance in the appreciation of the work of this signal Canadian artist and reflects with vivacity the times that produced him.