Tobi Bruce is Head of Exhibitions and Collections and Chief Curator at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. With over thirty-five years’ experience, Tobi has curated over 80 exhibitions, lectured and published extensively, and participated as a panelist at conferences nationally and internationally.
Notable exhibitions and publications include Tom Thomson: The Art of Authentication; The Artist Herself: Self-Portraits by Canadian Historical Women Artists; Into the Light: The Paintings of William Blair Bruce; The French Connection: Canadian Painters at the Paris Salons; William Kurelek: The Messenger; and Lasting Impressions: Celebrated Works from the Art Gallery of Hamilton.
Tobi has also been an invited essayist for publications with the National Gallery of Canada, The Art Gallery of Ontario, The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and the Vancouver Art Gallery, among others.
Tobi taught Canadian Art at McMaster University and has been a Board member with the international Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC), and Galeries Ontario Galleries (GOG).
Tom Thomson? The Art of Authentication
How do we know with certainty if a painting is by the hand of an artist? What steps must we take to prove or disprove the authenticity of artworks?
Using two works that might be by famed Canadian artist Tom Thomson as a case study, we’ll walk through the various questions asked and raised in the authentication process.
A painting’s signature, subject matter, materials, technique, and provenance are all pieces of a nuanced puzzle that guides us through this kind of work.
For a curator, authentication is one of the most exciting and intriguing elements of our job. It is part art historical research, part investigative journalism, and lots of close looking. It can also be as infuriating as it is satisfying.
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