The painting that vanished — and the $11 million lawsuit alleging conspiracy and neglect

It's been about a decade since Michael Murray saw the painting of Tea Lake Dam he received from his uncle in 1977 — a piece he says is an original Tom Thomson and whose disappearance sparked an $11-million lawsuit with a Toronto auction house that claims it never accepted the alleged masterwork. 

A gift following Murray's graduation from medical school, the painting hung in his uncle's Ottawa home, a property he inherited from Flora Scrim, the owner of a local flower shop where he worked. The painting came with the estate and Murray says it's believed it was a gift to Scrim's brother from the renowned Canadian painter Tom Thomson.

But though he can trace how the 8x12-inch painting came into his family's possession, neither Murrary nor a private investigator can find what happened to it, they say, since it was sent to be sold at Waddington's Auctioneers & Appraisers.

"I felt stupid — taken advantage of," the 74-year-old told CBC News in a recent interview.

The suit alleges the painting's disappearance was caused by "gross negligence" and alleges the auction house and a former employee "conspired one with the other" to withhold the painting from Murray. 

None of the claims have been tested in court. In its statement of defence, Waddington's denies the allegations, saying the painting was never at the auction house. It also questions the authenticity of the painting, which is a small, colourful landscape believed to be depicting Algonquin Park's Tea Lake Dam in Ontario. 

Murray told CBC News he and his wife decided to sell the unsigned painting more than a decade ago and began the process of having it authenticated. In 2013, Murray — who works as a physician in Hawaii — had the painting sent to the National Gallery in Ottawa to be reviewed by the conservation science division of the Canadian Conservation Institute.

Staff there analyzed the paint and found a pigment called "Freeman's White" — a pigment that has only been found in paintings by Thomson and the Group of Seven, according to the staff report, which was viewed by CBC News.

"This strongly supports the attribution to Tom Thomson," the report reads.

According to the statement of claim, in April 2014 the painting was also examined by a University of Toronto art historian who attributed it to Thomson. In summer 2014, according to the claim, the painting was sent for restoration and then delivered to Toronto's Nicholas Metivier Gallery in July 2014.

Gallery owner Nicholas Metivier, who declined to speak to CBC News for an interview, recommended the services of Waddington's in Toronto in 2015, Murray told CBC News. Metivier also introduced him to Stephen Ranger, at the time the vice president of business development for the auction house and appraiser, he said.

"It was all credible references, each step of the way," Murray said.

Murray said he exchanged emails with Ranger, in which Ranger agreed to manage the sale at a fall 2015 auction, but Murray said he didn't receive any official paperwork from Ranger or from Waddington's.

The statement of claim says Murray inquired about the progress with Ranger, who "consistently" confirmed the painting was with Waddington's, but then in 2017 Murray was told the painting would be temporarily placed in storage. Murray told CBC News he didn't contact Waddington's for a few years due to health issues in his family.