Canadian Fine Art Auction

May 26, 2014

LOT 90

Lot 90

JAMES EDWARD HERVEY MACDONALD, O.S.A., R.C.A.

JAMES EDWARD HERVEY MACDONALD, O.S.A., R.C.A.
Lot 90 Details
JAMES EDWARD HERVEY MACDONALD, O.S.A., R.C.A.

HIGH PARK

oil on board
signed with initials and dated ‘10
7 ins x 5 ins; 17.8 cms x 12.7 cms

Estimate $12,000-$15,000

Realised: $15,340
Price Includes Buyer's Premium ?

Lot Report

Additional Images
JAMES EDWARD HERVEY MACDONALD, O.S.A., R.C.A.
  • JAMES EDWARD HERVEY MACDONALD, O.S.A., R.C.A.
Provenance:

Roberts Gallery Limited, Toronto
Private Collection, Ontario

Literature:

Bruce Whiteman, J.E.H. MacDonald, Quarry Press, Kingston, 1995, pages 23-24.

Note:

In 1899, J.E.H. MacDonald and his new bride Joan set up in a small house in the Toronto Junction.  Just north of High Park, the house provided the painter with proximity to nature and a fitting spot in which to start a family (their son Thoreau was born in 1901).  Returning to Grip Printing and Publishing Company as a senior artist in 1907, J.E.H. MacDonald met Tom Thomson and helped him to design and build a modest cottage at 475 Quebec Avenue near his own residence.

Executed in his urban wilderness in 1910, one might assume that this work was featured in MacDonald’s exhibition at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto that Bruce Whiteman deemed “...the high point of 1911.” The exhibition consisted of a series of oil sketches executed in High Park and along the Humber River.  “These sketches embodied a nascent maturity and what C.W. Jeffreys, in a review of the exhibit, called... ‘a refreshing absence of Europe, or anything else, save Canada and J.E.H. MacDonald and what they have to say.’”

This sketch, in its darkened palette and atmospheric nature, demonstrates MacDonald’s ability to imbue the contained space of a public park with the full, unbridled power of the Canadian landscape.

For a gouache of this subject, see Lot 118.

CONDITION DETAILS

For condition information please contact the specialist.

LOT 90
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About Condition Ratings

  • 5 Stars: Excellent - No discernable damage, flaws or imperfections
  • 4 Stars: Very Good - Minor flaws or imperfections visible only under close inspection using specialised instruments or black light
  • 3 Stars: Good - Minor flaws visible upon inspection under standard lighting
  • 2 Stars: Fair - Exhibits flaws or damage that may draw the eye under standard lighting
  • 1 Star: Poor - Flaws or damage immediately apparent under standard lighting (examples: missing components, rips, broken glass, damaged surfaces, etc.)

Note: Condition ratings and condition details are the subjective opinions of our specialists and should be used as a guide only. Waddington’s uses due care when preparing condition details, however, our staff are not professional restorers or conservators. Condition details and reports are not warranties and each lot is sold “as is” in accordance with the buyer’s terms and conditions of sale. In all cases the prospective purchaser is responsible for inspecting the property themselves prior to placing a bid.