Slow Art Sunday - MacDonald

This week Slow Art Sunday is coming to you from Montreal (because I’m here!) so it’s fitting that today’s painting is “Falls, Montreal River” by J.E.H. MacDonald.  As part of the original Group of Seven, MacDonald is celebrated for conveying a deep sense of national identity through his art.

Born in England in 1873, his Canadian father moved the family to Ontario when MacDonald was a young teen.  His first job was as a design apprentice while he took evening courses at a local art college.  

Along with fellow Group of Seven colleagues, MacDonald loved to begin his paintings on location. Travelling by train to the Ontario wilderness, a converted boxcar became their mobile studio! This plein air style of painting in the great outdoors contributed to MacDonald’s colourful and dynamic work.  In the early days of the group, art critics seemed to single out MacDonald for his “incoherent mass of colour” but his drive to pursue art pushed him on.  Besides being an accomplished landscape painter, he was also a notable graphic designer, popular art teacher, a poet, and a calligrapher.

Take some time today to soak up the beauty of this lovely autumn scene painted in 1920 (5’ X 4’).

#slowartsunday #slowart #jehmacdonald #groupofseven #fallsmontrealriver #autumn #slowartflow