Canadian Painter Manly Edward MacDonald (1889 –1971), OIL Painting ON BOARD – View of the Bay of Quinte Through the Trees, “En Plein Air” Style

Manly Edward MacDonald (August 15, 1889 – April 10, 1971) was a well known Canadian painter who was born in Point Anne, close to Belleville, Ontario. He was the son of William MacDonald, a farmer and fisherman who immigrated to Canada from England. His work captured and recorded “en plain air” rural Ontario practices such as ploughing, cutting ice, collecting sap, logging and fishing. His favourite painting location was the countryside around the Bay of Quinte on the north shore which is the subject matter of this “en plein air” work.  

While most of his work is oil-on-board or oil-on-canvas, he also worked in pastels and various etching methods. In 1908, at the age of 19, MacDonald was enrolled at the Ontario School of Art, later the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD). In 1911, he also took courses at the Albright School of Art in Buffalo, New York and the School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. In 1917, he received a scholarship from the Royal Canadian Academy (RCA) enabling him to travel in Europe during WWI, drawing and taking in the war effort. While in France, he married fellow OCA student, Beverly Lambe.

In 1922, he held his first public exhibition held in Belleville, Ontario; in 1924 and 1925, his work was included in the first British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, and secondly at the new Canadian Pavilion. In 1938, he exhibited at the London Tate Gallery’s Canadian Exhibition and in 1939 at the New York World’s Fair. In 1943, he began to teach at the Ontario College of Art.

Late in life, MacDonald was an active member of the Ontario Society of Artists (OSA) to which he was elected in 1918 and the Royal Canadian Academy (RCA) (he was appointed an associate member). In 1958, Manly MacDonald became a founding member of the Ontario Institute of Painters (OIP). An important commission for MacDonald was a 1959 painting of the Toronto skyline that was the city of Toronto’s gift to Queen Elizabeth II, now part of the Queen’s Royal Collection at Sandringham.

This impressionistic painter always saw himself as a traditionalist, but he experimented with technique, style and mediums throughout his lifetime. A plein air painter, MacDonald could as easily paint an impressionistic landscape as a traditional scene. He painted portraits in both genres as well as in pastels and was also adept with etchings and drypoints, producing his own sets of Christmas cards.

MacDonald continued to paint until his very last days. He died on 10 April 1971 having completed about 2000 works. Many of his works are in the permanent collections of public galleries such as the National Gallery of Canada and art Gallery of Ontario.

This “View of the Bay of Quinte Through the Trees” is a central example of Manly MacDonald’s paintings, framed beautifully referencing the era in which it was done.

Dimensions: Oil on Board : height 12″ x width 16″ , Frame : height 19″ x width 23″