Tom Hodgson

Thomas Hodgson (June 5, 1924 – February 27, 2006) was a Canadian sprint canoer who competed in the 1950s, and one of the acclaimed Canadian artists known as the Painters Eleven. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he earned his best finish of eighth in the C-2 1000 m event at Helsinki in 1952.[1]

Prior to the Olympics, Hodgson served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He started painting as a child. Hogson began working in advertising from 1948 to 1967 but at the same time, experimented as an artist, making watercolours and joining art societies such as the Ontario Society of Artists and Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.[2] By the early 1950s, he was experimenting with abstraction, and was invited to join Painters Eleven.

His work is characterized by a large format, in bold colours and strokes of paint.[3] He thought of abstraction as abstracting a feeling or memory of something rather than a record of nature.[4]

From 1968 to 1973, he taught at the Ontario College of Art. Afterwards, he taught at Art`s Space in Toronto.[5]

A native of Toronto, he died in Peterborough of Alzheimer's disease.[1]