Thomas Wesley McLean; "Blue Hills"

Thomas Wesley McLean (1881-1951) was born in Kendal, Ontario, about 30 kilometers northwest of Port Hope.  At the age of fifteen he started working for Grip.  Grip was a Toronto design firm that was home to many of Canada's finest painters and designers during the first half of the twentieth century.  At Grip, he worked alongside Tom Thomson, Arthur Lismer, Frank Carmichael, Frank Johnston, J.E.H. MacDonald and F.H. Varley.  In his early twenties, McLean began exploring northern Ontario during the summers. During one of these summers McLean discovered Algonquin Park and brought back stories and sketches of his experiences there to his fellow workers, including Tom Thomson, at Grip.  After McLean piqued his interest in the area, Thomson visited Algonquin Park with various other artists and work colleagues.  Out of these visits, came the formation of the Canadian Algonquin School and later the Group of Seven.  

In 1912, McLean moved to Winnipeg to teach, and in 1925 he became a founding member of the Manitoba Society of Artists.  He also became a member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour in 1925.  Two years later, in 1927, he moved back to Ontario.  In May of 1932 an exhibition of his work was held at the Robert Simpson Galleries in Toronto.  During the thirties, he also exhibited his work with the Royal Canadian Academy and the Ontario Society of Artists. McLean died in Toronto in 1951 at the age of 71. 

Photo, between 1899 and 1902, Mahlstick Club; front row, seated, from left to right: E.L. Laur, Fred Haines, Norman Price, Walter R. Duff, T.W. MacLean (with accordion), A.A. Martin, Edgar McGuire, Louis Meyer, G. Dawson, T.G. Greene, C.M. Manly, and A.H. Robson patting dog; standing, from left to right: Fergus Kyle,  W.W. Alexander, D.I. Brown, Neil McKechnie, Victor Darling, Bert Sloan, Lady unknown, and Arthur Goode (Colgate Papers, Ontario Archives, Toronto)

"Blue Hills";  Watercolor on paper signed T.W. McLean in the lower right corner.  In this loosely painted, impressionistic scene we see a rolling landscape in the foreground, then a row of trees framing just a glimpse of a lake.  The "Blue Hills" in the background are the hills of Haliburton at the edge of Algonquin Park.  12 1/2 " l., 9 1/2" h.  Framed, 21 1/2" l., 19 1/2" h.  Canadian, c. 1930's  SOLD