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
Richard Halliday was born in Vancouver, B.C. in 1939. He studied in Vancouver School of Art with Ray Kiyooka and Jack Shadbolt. Further studies in Mexico. Halliday acted as a director of the Brandon Allied Arts Centre in 1964. He held exhibitions in Brandon and Winnipeg. (1996 inventory)
Dimensions
c.185 X 170 cm
Size Overall
c.187 X 172 cm
Medium
acrylic
Condition
Tear in middle area of image - 49 to 58.5 cm from the bottom. Two long scratches in BL area of painting. Surface is also very dusty.
Primary Support
canvas
Secondary Support
frame - wood
Inscriptions
Two pencil inscriptions ("Art"; "WH") in lower R area of image; another inscription ("S.P.") in the R corner.
