Evan Macdonald: A Painter’s Life

May 14 to August 1, 2008

Evan Macdonald (1905–1972) is today recognized as one of Canada’s most accomplished painters. The retrospective exhibition, A Painter’s Life, celebrated this Guelph artist’s career achievements with over 100 paintings and drawings. Born in 1905 to one of Guelph’s founding Scottish families, Evan came of age in the early twentieth century, a time of progress and change. He was a young contemporary of the Group of Seven and pursued his practice in Canada during the Great Depression. He joined the Second World War as an artist-soldier and after the war, became a professional portraitist.  

Through the 1950s and ’60s, Macdonald documented the broad destruction of Guelph’s historical buildings. A master draughtsman, printmaker, 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 including Saturday morning shoppers at the Guelph Farmer’s Market, patrons reading at the Guelph Public Library, as well as the many streets, bridges, waterways, and farmsteads that define the city’s landscape. Macdonald’s work celebrates industry and advocates for the preservation of history and culture. In 1970, Macdonald became the first Guelph resident to receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Guelph, an acknowledgement of his artistic legacy and his lifelong contributions to the Guelph community.  

At the opening reception on May 14, the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre launched a 144-page book on the life and art of Evan Macdonald. The painter’s life is richly documented in the catalogue essay by Flora Macdonald Spencer, a poignant telling of her father’s artistic journey. The book, Evan Macdonald: A Painter’s Life, was published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

Evan Macdonald: A Painter’s Life was supported by the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. The MSAC acknowledges The Guelph Community Foundation’s Musagetes Fund for their generous sponsorship of this project and for their commitment to supporting scholarship in Canadian visual arts.

Images:
Top left: The 1965 Demolition of the Guelph Public Library, 1965 (oil on canvas)
Gift of the Guelph Creative Arts Association, 1980, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection

Top right: Destruction of the Royal Opera House, 1954 (oil on board)
Guelph Civic Museum Collection

Bottom left: Mary and Flora at Southampton, 1948 (oil on board)
Collection of Byron and Flora Spencer

Bottom right: Farm in Guelph Township, circa 1950 (oil on masonite)
Gift of Ron and Janet Mullin, 2003, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre Collection