J.E.H. Macdonald

J. E. H. MacDonald
J. E. H. MacDonald, 1930
Born	James Edward Hervey MacDonald (1873-05-12)May 12, 1873 Durham, England
Died	November 26, 1932(1932-11-26) (aged 59) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	English-Canadian
Education	Hamilton Art School Central Ontario School of Art and Design
Known for	Painting
Notable work	The Tangled Garden The Solemn Land
Movement	Group of Seven

James Edward Hervey MacDonald (May 12, 1873 – November 26, 1932), known as J. E. H. MacDonald, was a Canadian artist and one of the founders of the Group of Seven who initiated the first major Canadian national art movement. He was the father of illustrator Thoreau MacDonald.

MacDonald was born on May 12, 1873 in Durham, England to an English mother and Canadian father, who was a cabinetmaker. In 1887 at the age of 14, he immigrated with his family to Hamilton, Ontario. That year he began his first training as an artist at the Hamilton Art School, where he studied under John Ireland and Arthur Heming. In 1889, they moved again to Toronto, where he studied commercial art and became active in the Toronto Art Student League. He continued his training at the Central Ontario School of Art and Design, where he studied with George Agnew Reid and William Cruikshank.

In 1895, MacDonald took a position as a commercial designer at Grip Ltd, an important commercial art firm, where he further developed his design skills. In the coming years, he encouraged his colleagues—including future artist Tom Thomson—to develop their skills as painters. In 1899, MacDonald married Joan Lavis, and two years later they had a son, Thoreau. MacDonald worked as a designer at Grip Ltd until 1903, then at Carlton Studio in London from 1903 to 1907, and returned to Grip Ltd in 1907. Whilst at Carlton, he worked with Norman Mills Price, William Tracy Wallace and Albert Angus Turbayne.

In 1911, MacDonald resigned his designer position at Grip Ltd and moved with his wife and child to Thornhill, Ontario to pursue a career as a landscape artist. To supplement his income, he worked occasionally as a freelance designer until 1921. After developing his own unique style to the genre, he organized a show of his work at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto in November 1911. Fellow artist Lawren Harris—a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts—was so impressed with MacDonald's work that he asked if they could work together. Harris encouraged MacDonald to continue painting and show his work whenever possible. The following year they organized their first joint exhibition. In 1912, MacDonald was widely recognized for his contributions to an exhibition at the Ontario Society of Artists.