Tom Thomson 1877-1917
One of Canada's most distinguished painters. Thomson was born at Claremont, Ontario County, but two months later moved with his parents to Leith where he lived until the age of twenty-one. After working in Toronto as a commercial artist until 1913, he supplemented his limited income from painting, and fulfilled his love for the Canadian wilderness by serving as a guide and fire ranger in Algonguin Park. An exponent of a distinctive style of Canadian landscape painting, Thomson influenced the work of the "Group of Seven". Among his better known paintings are "West Wind", "Jack Pine", "Spring Ice" and "Northern River". His brief career ended tragically in July 1917 when he was drowned in Canoe Lake, Algonguin Park.
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Ontario Plaques. Full page here.