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| Gary McLaughlin and his Toronto Maple Leafs 100th anniversary portrait on display in his Neustadt, ON gallery. |
In 2007 the commercial illustrator created a "masterpiece" to commemorate the Maple Leafs 100th anniversary. Remarkably, he has since redone the painting to immortalize every player to don the Toronto Arena, St. Patricks and Maple Leafs jersey from 1917 to 2017.
Whether a player made one shift or had a long career with the Toronto franchise, the six-foot by 12-foot portrait dubbed "Blue Sky, White Snow" depicts the faces of all 973 players to wear the jersey in the first 100 years.
With the help of friends, McLaughlin started with a tremendous amount of research to find names and faces of the players. In the fall of 2005 he began work on the massive canvas while also working on other commercial projects. He started with the Maple Leafs symbol in the middle and added all of the team's Hall of Fame players onto it.
McLaughlin completed the work of art three years later and it was sold to a Toronto man in 2011. The work was appraised at $143,000. The original was subsequently displayed in Queens Park, including a few other places, before finding a home in the old Maple Leaf Gardens facing the ice rink where the Ryerson University athletic department is now located.
Unfortunately the canvas was damaged by vandals a couple of years ago and returned to Neustadt for repair. Insurance covered the damage and the artist started the meticulous refurbishing process. He used a palm sander on the damaged areas of the canvas and then decided to redo the piece to incorporate all the players for the Maple Leafs in time for the club's 100th anniversary.
"At first I thought it was gone for good but if it hadn't been damaged it would not have been expanded and updated," he said in a recent interview. The top of the portrait now features all three arenas the franchise has played in as well as the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The title "Blue Sky, White Snow" was derived from a reference of former Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe when he changed the team colors to blue and white, representing the Canadian skies and snow.
To keep the canvas from being vandalized again, it is now housed at McLaughlin's Riversong Gallery in Neustadt, but McLaughlin says he would like to have it displayed in the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, or a museum. "I think it should be in a public place," McLaughlin said. "It would be a shame if someone bought it only to put in a basement rec room."
He explained that since it has been back in Neustadt a lot of people have come through the door of his gallery especially to see the portrait, including family members of a few ex-Maple Leafs players. "Many of the visitors from across the province have wanted their picture taken with it," he adds proudly.
The gallery does not have regular hours and it is suggested that if people are interested in seeing the work of art, it is best to email McLaughlin at info@garymclaughlinartist.com to set up a time and date.
Meantime, the owner of the work is in the process of setting up a website to sell replica copies.
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