Museum celebrates work of Guelph artist Evan Macdonald
The Macdonald Stewart Art Centre presents Evan Macdonald: A Painter’s Life from May 14 to July 20
The retrospective exhibition, Views of Guelph and Wellington County, includes over 100 landscapes, portraits, and water colours painted by Guelph-born artist.
Born in 1905 to one of Guelph’s founding Scottish families, Macdonald came of age in the early 20th century. He was a young contemporary of the Group of Seven and pursued his practice in Canada during the depression.
He joined the Second World War as an artist and soldier, and after the war, became a professional portrait artist.
In the 1950s and 1960s, he documented the destruction of Guelph’s historical buildings. A master draughtsman, print-maker, book illustrator, and painter, Macdonald is renowned for his depictions of historic Guelph and Wellington County.
He took pride in documenting his community with subjects that included Saturday morning shoppers at the Guelph Farmer’s Market, patrons reading at the Guelph Public Library, and the many city streets and bridges, landscapes and waterways.
Macdonald’s work celebrates industry and advocates for the preservation of history and culture.
In 1970, he received an honorary degree from the University of Guelph to acknowledge his artistic accomplishments and contributions to the community.
To support the exhibition, the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre is launching an illustrated book with an essay by Macdonald’s daughter, Flora Spencer.
