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

When his lawyer's name flashed on his phone early last month, Michael Murray ducked out to answer the call — the physician was in the middle seeing patients at his medical clinic in Hawaii, but this call from Toronto felt important.

It turns out it was.

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

"It was almost disbelief."

It had been 10 years since Murray had seen his painting — believed to be an unsigned original Tom Thomson painting of Tea Lake Dam in Algonquin Park in southeastern Ontario.

"To be quite honest with you, I never thought we would find that painting again," said Murray. "It was very surprising, very exciting actually."

While Murray is taking comfort that his painting has been located, it's unclear where exactly it was for about 10 years.

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

He filed an $11-million lawsuit against Waddington's in 2022 seeking damages. In court documents, Waddington's said it never had the painting.

Then last month, the auction house sent a letter to Murray's lawyer, Steven Bookman, saying they'd found the painting.

A lawyer for the auction house told CBC News it can't comment on the discovery because the matter is still before the courts.

And so the mystery — in part — lives on.

Bookman told CBC News few details were shared with him in the letter from Waddington's — including precisely where the painting was found.

"They didn't tell us exactly. They just indicated that it was in a climate-controlled storeroom."

A few weeks later, Bookman said he was able to arrange to visit the painting, accompanied by a local expert who had restored the painting in 2014.

WATCH | A missing painting at the centre of an $11-million lawsuit emerges:

An unsigned painting believed to be an original Tom Thomson has been found in Toronto years after it went missing.

"There was no damage to the painting and [the expert] verified that it was in the same condition," said Bookman.

When CBC News met Bookman in his Toronto office last week, the painting was in his possession, about to be taken to a secure storage facility that specializes in artwork.

Bookman said he was surprised to receive that initial letter.

"First of all, [I was] shocked that Waddington's actually indicated that they had the painting in their possession — that was amazing news. We were very, very pleased that it had been recovered.

"And also shocked that we had gone through a very complex and extended lawsuit bringing us to that point where the painting was actually where it was supposed to be in the first place."

Bookman said there are still many unanswered questions, including how the painting wasn't discovered last summer, when the Waddington's facility was moved from Bathurst and Adelaide streets to a new location near Broadview Avenue and Queen Street East in Toronto's east end.

Even though the painting has been returned, Bookman said they're still moving ahead with the lawsuit.

"Dr. Murray has lost the use and enjoyment of this painting for a decade. Had he been successful in having Waddington's market the painting for him, he lost the use of the funds that he would have had or any interest or investment income from it. So there still are multiple areas that we'll be pursuing for damages here," said Bookman, adding his client has incurred significant legal fees as well.

For Murray, the painting's discovery is the closing of a personal chapter — the artwork was given to him by his now-deceased uncle, Paul Chandler, as a gift for his graduation from medical 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 at the shop for decades, and after Flora Scrim died in the 1970s, Murray says she left her home and the painting to Chandler.

"Forty years we had that painting — it hung in our home from 1977 to 2015," said Murray.

The National Gallery in Ottawa verified that a pigment in that painting called Freeman's white was only used by Group of Seven painters and Tom Thomson, and said in a report that it "strongly supports the attribution to Tom Thomson."

"It was a real, real personal thing. And the fact that we couldn't find it for so long — it was a very personal problem for me," said Murray

While Murray expressed joy and relief at the painting's discovery, he's curious about what really happened.

"There is an interest on my side to kind of understand how it could be missing for 10 years and then all of a sudden show up," said Murray.

"I think we may or may not get answers to that."

Murray said the painting's unknown travels in some ways mirror the mystery surrounding parts of the famed Canadian painter's life.

"There's a lot of similarities between that mystery and Tom Thomson's mysterious passing — to this day, there's still questions."

Murray said now that the painting is in the possession of his lawyer, he'd like to once again begin the process of trying to find a buyer.

"It's available to somebody who's interested in Tom Thomson paintings."

An appraisal done of the painting in 2022 — through photographs and other documentation — pegged its value at about $1.5 million.

"This is one of the few Tom Thomsons that really has been out of the public eye for forever," said Murray.