Georgian Bay Island

Near Honey Harbour, Ontario

Evan Weekes Macdonald

1905 - 1972

Born in 1905 to one of the founding Scottish families of Guelph, Ontario, some 45 miles west of Toronto, Macdonald was a young contemporary of the Group of Seven. (He should not be confused with Group of Seven member J.E.H. MacDonald).

In the Second World War, Macdonald enlisted as an artist-soldier and after the war became a professional portraitist. A master draughtsman, printmaker, book and magazine illustrator and painter, especially of the shores of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, Macdonald is also known for his depictions of historic Guelph. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Macdonald documented the broad destruction of the area’s historical buildings.

In 1970, Macdonald became the first Guelph resident to receive an honorary degree from the University of Guelph, an acknowledgement of his artistic legacy and his lifelong contributions to the community.

Georgian Bay Island is a typical scene of this region’s rugged landscape that has attracted so many painters over the decades. Georgian Bay, part of Lake Huron, has been a summer getaway for Canadians and Americans for more than a century.