J.E.H. MacDonald (1873-1932)
Lodge Interior, Lake O’Hara c. 1925
oil on paperboard
21.4 x 26.6 cm
Gift of the Founders, Robert and Signe McMichael
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
1966.16.36

J.E.H MacDonald: Up Close will celebrate the art and method of J.E.H. MacDonald’s artistic practice through an examination of his works from the McMichael collection. McMichael Conservator, Alison Douglas, will share her observations from research on the artist. Complete with microscopic photographs, the methods of the artist will be explored, especially in relation to the artist’s fondness for small studies.

About J.E.H. MacDonald

Born in Durham, England, J.E.H. MacDonald (1873–1932) emigrated to Canada in 1887 with his English mother and Canadian father. He studied at the Hamilton Art School and the Central Ontario School of Art and Design, in Toronto. MacDonald worked at Grip Ltd. from 1895 to 1911, when Lawren Harris persuaded him to start painting full time. In 1922, MacDonald accepted a full-time teaching position at the Ontario College of Art.
His fellow artists described him as a quiet redhead of frail stature, with the dreamy air of a poet and philosopher – a “romantic.” On sketching trips, when MacDonald was not drawing, he was forever engrossed in a book. Among MacDonald’s most accomplished works are rugged landscapes of the Algoma, Ontario, region. MacDonald was also a writer – a volume of his poetry, West by East, was published posthumously.