4 years after vanishing, painting at heart of $11M lawsuit re-emerges — but mystery far from over

Farrah Merali · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 18, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

When his lawyer's sanction flashed connected his phone early past month, Michael Murray ducked retired to reply the telephone — the doc was successful the mediate seeing patients astatine his aesculapian session successful Hawaii, but this telephone from Toronto felt important. 

It turns retired it was.

The lawyer said: "You're not going to judge it, but the coating has been found," Murray told CBC News successful an interview.

"It was astir disbelief."

It had been 10 years since Murray had seen his painting — believed to beryllium an unsigned archetypal Tom Thomson coating of Tea Lake Dam successful Algonquin Park successful southeastern Ontario.

"To beryllium rather honorable with you, I ne'er thought we would find that coating again,"  said Murray. "It was precise surprising, precise breathtaking actually."

While Murray is taking comfortableness that his coating has been located, it's unclear wherever precisely it was for about 10 years.

Murray says it was picked up successful 2015 by a then-employee of Waddington's Auctioneers & Appraisers in Toronto, awaiting auction. But successful 2021, the auction location told him it didn't person it.

He filed an $11-million suit against Waddington's successful 2022 seeking damages. In tribunal documents, Waddington's said it ne'er had the painting.

Then past month, the auction location sent a missive to Murray's lawyer, Steven Bookman, saying they'd recovered the painting. 

A lawyer for the auction location told CBC News it can't remark connected the find due to the fact that the substance is inactive earlier the courts.

And truthful the enigma — successful portion — lives on.

Bookman told CBC News fewer details were shared with him successful the missive from Waddington's — including precisely wherever the painting was found.

"They didn't archer america exactly. They conscionable indicated that it was successful a climate-controlled storeroom."

A fewer weeks later, Bookman said helium was capable to put to sojourn the painting, accompanied by a section adept who had restored the coating successful 2014. 

WATCH | A missing coating astatine the centre of an $11-million suit emerges: 

"There was nary harm to the coating and [the expert] verified that it was successful the aforesaid condition," said Bookman.

When CBC News met Bookman successful his Toronto bureau past week, the coating was successful his possession, astir to beryllium taken to a unafraid retention installation that specializes successful artwork.

Bookman said helium was amazed to person that archetypal letter.

"First of all, [I was] shocked that Waddington's really indicated that they had the coating successful their possession — that was astonishing news. We were very, precise pleased that it had been recovered.

"And besides shocked that we had gone done a precise analyzable and extended suit bringing america to that constituent wherever the coating was really wherever it was expected to beryllium successful the archetypal place." 

Bookman said determination are inactive galore unanswered questions, including however the coating wasn't discovered past summer, erstwhile the Waddington's installation was moved from Bathurst and Adelaide streets to a caller determination adjacent Broadview Avenue and Queen Street East in Toronto's eastbound end.

Even though the coating has been returned, Bookman said they're inactive moving up with the lawsuit.

"Dr. Murray has mislaid the usage and enjoyment of this coating for a decade. Had helium been palmy successful having Waddington's marketplace the coating for him, helium mislaid the usage of the funds that helium would person had oregon immoderate involvement oregon concern income from it. So determination inactive are aggregate areas that we'll beryllium pursuing for damages here," said Bookman, adding his lawsuit has incurred important ineligible fees arsenic well.

The extremity of a idiosyncratic chapter

For Murray, the painting's find is the closing of a idiosyncratic chapter — the artwork was fixed to him by his now-deceased uncle, Paul Chandler, arsenic a acquisition for his graduation from aesculapian school.

Murray says Tom Thomson gave the painting to his friend, Charlie Scrim. His sister, Flora Scrim, ran Scrim's Florist shop in Ottawa. Chandler worked astatine the store for decades, and aft Flora Scrim died successful the 1970s, Murray says she near her location and the coating to Chandler. 

"Forty years we had that coating — it hung successful our location from 1977 to 2015," said Murray.

The National Gallery successful Ottawa verified that a pigment successful that coating called Freeman's achromatic was lone utilized by Group of Seven painters and Tom Thomson, and said successful a study that it "strongly supports the attribution to Tom Thomson." 

"It was a real, existent idiosyncratic thing. And the information that we couldn't find it for truthful agelong — it was a precise idiosyncratic occupation for me," said Murray

While Murray expressed joyousness and alleviation astatine the painting's discovery, he's funny astir what truly happened.

"There is an involvement connected my broadside to benignant of understand how it could beryllium missing for 10 years and past each of a abrupt amusement up," said Murray.

"I deliberation we whitethorn oregon whitethorn not get answers to that."

Murray said the painting's chartless travels successful immoderate ways mirror the enigma surrounding parts of the famed Canadian painter's life. 

"There's a batch of similarities betwixt that enigma and Tom Thomson's mysterious passing — to this day, there's inactive questions."

Looking for a buyer

Murray said present that the coating is successful the possession of his lawyer, he'd similar to erstwhile again statesman the process of trying to find a buyer.

"It's disposable to idiosyncratic who's funny successful Tom Thomson paintings."

An appraisal done of the coating successful 2022 — done photographs and different documentation — pegged its value at astir $1.5 million. 

"This is 1 of the fewer Tom Thomsons that truly has been retired of the nationalist oculus for forever," said Murray.