James Edward Hervey MacDonald 1873 - 1932

Private Collection, New Brunswick

Paul Duval, The Tangled Garden, Scarborough, 1978, p. 44-45

This painting is in excellent condition. It is clean, and there is no evidence of any touch-ups or inpainting.
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For most of MacDonald's early outdoor sketching in Toronto, he went to the Humber River and nearby Hyde Park.  The Park was close to his home on Quebec Avenue, and offered him sketching opportunities of woods, fields and water.  In this fine early work from 1910, MacDonald was experimenting with cast shadows as a major feature of his compositions.

The figures are silhouetted on the horizon, while the snowy foreground has areas of shadow tracery thrown by the tree branches which are out of view of the composition.  Figures in his later landscapes were to become a rarity.

In March of 1912, Saturday Night magazine commented: MacDonald is the bright, particular feature of the 40th Annual Exhibition of the Ontario Society of Artists.  He has been known for sometime among artists as a painter of beautiful sketches... they are distinguished by fine design, sincerity and a very original point of view.

A note on the verso comments that this work was framed by the artist.