James (Jock) W. G. MacDonald was born in Thurso, Scotland in 1867. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art, and later worked as a fabric designer. He taught at Lincoln School of Art; Vancouver School of Art; School of Decorative and Applied Arts, Vancouver; Provincial Institute of Technology and Art, Calgary; and at Ontario College of Art after 1947. MacDonald was a member of Canadian Group of Painters and Painters Eleven. He died in Toronto in 1960. The artist was conducting independent experiments in Vancouver while the others worked in Winnipeg and Toronto. He had painted 'automatics' by 1934 and completely abstract or non-objective works by 1935 or 1936. (Painting in Canada: A History. Harper J. Russel. U of Toronto Press, 1977. P 327) Jock MacDonald was one of Canada's first painters to explore the relationship between abstraction and landscape. What MacDonald did is take the formal qualities of his subjects and isolate or abstract them form the landscape. (The History of Painting in Canada. Barry Lord. Toronto: NC Press, 1974. P 205-7)
Dimensions
23.5 X 33.5 cm
Size Overall
45 X 52.5 cm
Medium
watercolor
Condition
Slight cockling of surface.
Primary Support
paper
Secondary Support
mat, plexiglass, backing board; frame - wood and plaster with gild
Moderate amount of accretion marks all over image. Quite severe yellowing of paper. Slight cockling of surface. Two prominent vertical creases in paper; one in direct center and one three-quarters the way over, starting from left.
Mrs. Perry, wife of Edward Perry, Professor English in Brandon College, began painting about 1940. She studied with professors Eliasson and Ivan Eyre, 1958-1960 on their trips to Brandon from Winnipeg, and continued with teachers at the Brandon Allied Arts Centre, 1960-1965; Ferrer, Strub, Repa and Halliday. 'Miniature Antiques' represents a lifetime interest in antiques on the part of professor and Mrs. Perry. (1969 inventory)
Inscription: Dr. E.J. (Curly) Tyler, Psychology department, Professor and Head 1949-1978. Presented with gratitude by the 1952-1977 winners of the Jim Casey Trophy for his outstanding contribution to sports at Brandon University.
