Roberts Gallery, Toronto

Private collection, Calgary

Peter Ohler Fine Arts, Vancouver

Private collection, Ontario

MacDonald organized the first show of his work at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto in November 1911. Lawren Harris attended the exhibition and was particularly taken with MacDonald’s landscapes, so much that he asked if they could work together. Harris also convinced MacDonald to take up painting as a full-time career, which led him to resign from his position as a designer at Grip Ltd. in 1912.

The two painters began to sketch scenes of Toronto and its environs together. MacDonald’s favourite locations to paint were the Humber Valley and High Park. MacDonald’s paintings from this period feature loose brushwork and soft pastel tones influenced by European Impressionism, while also hinting at the more dramatic and atmospheric landscapes that would later define his work with the Group of Seven.