Thomas Sherlock HODGSON

Although he competed in two Olympic Games as a canoeist, Tom Hodgson was far better known for his career as an artist in Canada. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1943-45 in World War II and began painting while he was training as a pilot. He made many paintings of military life and later donated them to the War Art Museum of Canada. He achieved artistic renown in the 1950s as a member of the Painters Eleven, a loosely affiliated association of avant-garde Toronto artists, known for their work in abstract modernism. The group disbanded in 1960 and Hodgson became an instructor at the Ontario College of Art and later became a tenured professor there. Work by the Painters Eleven became quite valuable in the 1960s but Hodgson was unable to take full advantage of it. Short of materials, he later painted over some of his original canvasses. In 1993 he had further bad luck when many of his paintings were destroyed in a fire. As a canoeist, Hodgson won 12 national titles as a juvenile and junior, and nine Canadian championships as an adult. He died after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.