James Edward Hervey MacDonald 1873 - 1932

MacDonald's first visit to Nova Scotia was in 1898, when he went to stay with his friends Lewis and Edith Smith, both of whom were painters. Smith worked with MacDonald at Grip Limited, the graphic design firm in Toronto. In 1922, MacDonald made another and lengthy visit to the area, and focussed his painting activities on Petite Rivière, a tiny village on the coast about eighty kilometers south-west of Halifax.

The subjects he found were typical of those one might find in a coastal fishing village: boats, harbour facilities such as docks, a lighthouse, and assorted sheds, fish houses and landing stages. The village itself offered up the modest cottages of the residents, the church with its spire, and the bridge across the narrows up from the estuary.

This oil sketch of a boat and fish house shows how inspirational this place was for MacDonald. He has not only expressed the subject with perfect detail and accuracy, but has also caught the atmosphere of the place. One can almost smell the sea air and feel the light sea breeze. When he found a congenial place, MacDonald was able to mine it with one great sketch after another. Where he might find high drama in a storm, or majesty in the mountains, here he burrowed in deeply to the essential character of a charming small fishing port.