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The Flood Gate, c.1900–01

Painting by Homer Watson depicting a man standing on top of a dam and turning the wheel of a floodgate during a storm. A small dog stands at his feet and a group of horses a short distance away. Tall trees are bending in the wind and dark clouds are overhead.

Homer Watson, The Flood Gate, c.1900–01, oil on canvas, mounted on plywood, 86.9 x 121.8 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Critics at the time and later saw The Flood Gate as a high point in the evolution of Watson’s style. A.Y. Jackson (1882–1974) reportedly told Watson that the canvas belonged in the Louvre, and Jackson’s fellow Group of Seven member Arthur Lismer (1885–1969) characterized it in the 1930s as “an old master” painting: Canada’s finest depiction of a rural landscape.


Its subject and composition—the scene is of a man taking pressure off a dam by opening its floodgate during a storm—underscore Watson’s favourite theme of nature’s power and majesty.

Gallery

Landscape painting by Homer Watson of a creek below a tall mountain, shadowed by approaching storm clouds.

A Coming Storm in the Adirondacks, 1879

Painting by Homer Watson of a working sawmill with a water wheel on the edge of a river. Large trees and mountains are in the background while to left of the river, in the foreground, is a tall dead tree with a old, bearded man walking below it.

The Pioneer Mill, 1880

Landscape painting by Homer Watson depicting a field near a river with trees and grass blowing in the wind. Sun is breaking through dark clouds overhead. Two cows stand near a dead, downed tree on the bottom right of the frame.

Near the Close of a Stormy Day, 1884

Photograph of a wall in a home with framed landscape paintings hung on the wall. A painted running border along the top of the wall reads "CLAUDE TURNER" with smaller landscape paintings appearing over the text.

Studio frieze (detail), 1893–94

Painting by Homer Watson of two working men in a forest on a sunny day. Each man is holding an end of a long saw as they cut a log on the ground.

Log-cutting in the Woods, 1894

Painting by Homer Watson depicting a man standing on top of a dam and turning the wheel of a floodgate during a storm. A small dog stands at his feet and a group of horses a short distance away. Tall trees are bending in the wind and dark clouds are overhead.

The Flood Gate, c.1900–01

Painting by Homer Watson of WWI soldiers in an open field with forested mountains in the distance. A group stands behind a row of soliders lying on the ground who are pointing their rifles at small targets across the field.

The Ranges (Camp at Sunrise), 1915

Painting by Homer Watson of a row of houses in the middle of rolling fields, partially covered by snow. The moon shines in a pastel-coloured sky and a single large tree is in the foreground.

Moonlight, Waning Winter, 1924

Painting by Homer Watson of large trees on the bank of a river with fields visible near the horizon. The moon shines in a sky of pink and purple clouds made with large brushstrokes.

Moonlit Stream, 1933

Landscape painting by Homer Watson of a creek below a tall mountain, shadowed by approaching storm clouds.

A Coming Storm in the Adirondacks, 1879

Painting by Homer Watson of a working sawmill with a water wheel on the edge of a river. Large trees and mountains are in the background while to left of the river, in the foreground, is a tall dead tree with a old, bearded man walking below it.

The Pioneer Mill, 1880

Landscape painting by Homer Watson depicting a field near a river with trees and grass blowing in the wind. Sun is breaking through dark clouds overhead. Two cows stand near a dead, downed tree on the bottom right of the frame.

Near the Close of a Stormy Day, 1884

Photograph of a wall in a home with framed landscape paintings hung on the wall. A painted running border along the top of the wall reads "CLAUDE TURNER" with smaller landscape paintings appearing over the text.

Studio frieze (detail), 1893–94

Painting by Homer Watson of two working men in a forest on a sunny day. Each man is holding an end of a long saw as they cut a log on the ground.

Log-cutting in the Woods, 1894

Painting by Homer Watson depicting a man standing on top of a dam and turning the wheel of a floodgate during a storm. A small dog stands at his feet and a group of horses a short distance away. Tall trees are bending in the wind and dark clouds are overhead.

The Flood Gate, c.1900–01

Painting by Homer Watson of WWI soldiers in an open field with forested mountains in the distance. A group stands behind a row of soliders lying on the ground who are pointing their rifles at small targets across the field.

The Ranges (Camp at Sunrise), 1915

Painting by Homer Watson of a row of houses in the middle of rolling fields, partially covered by snow. The moon shines in a pastel-coloured sky and a single large tree is in the foreground.

Moonlight, Waning Winter, 1924

Painting by Homer Watson of large trees on the bank of a river with fields visible near the horizon. The moon shines in a sky of pink and purple clouds made with large brushstrokes.

Moonlit Stream, 1933

The Flood Gate - Art Canada