Important Canadian Art

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Lot 80
  • 80

James (Jock) Williamson Galloway Macdonald 1897 - 1960

Estimate
8,000 - 10,000 CAD
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Description

  • James (Jock) Williamson Galloway Macdonald
  • ETHERIAL FORM [SIC]
  • signed and dated lower left J.W.G. MACDONALD 1935; bears signature, title and dated Etherial Form [sic] 1934 in another hand on the reverse
  • oil on panel
  • 38.1 by 30.5 cm.
  • 15 by 12 in.

Provenance

Private Collection, Toronto

Exhibited

Toronto (and travelling), Jock Macdonald, The Inner Landscape, A Retrospective Exhibition, The Art Gallery of Ontario, 1981, no. 13, illustrated 

London, The Logic of Ecstacy, Canadian Mystical Painting 1920 - 1940, The London Regional Art Gallery, 1990, no. 50

Literature

Joyce Zemans, Jock Macdonald, The Inner Landscape, A Retrospective Exhibition, Toronto, 1981, pp. 63-65, illustrated in colour, p. 66

Condition

This work has been viewed under UV and it is in very good condition. The panel appears to be splitting on the back at the bottom and there are two vertical cracks at loer left.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

In the summer of 1935, Macdonald went to the remote First Nations' settlement of Nootka after his sojourn teaching at the British Columbia College of Art. Liberated from teaching duties, Macdonald refocused his energy towards painting and drew inspiration from natural surroundings. Zemans stated that Etheric Form was the most successful work of Macdonald's early abstracts and  further that: 

here he began to translate the conceptual into visual experience ... Macdonald painted the first in a series which he designated thought-expressions and later called modalities. Etheric Form was one of his first modalities and was a vivid interpretation of the artist's struggle with the concept of the nature of reality.