Lake McArthur, Yoho Park 1924

Curator: Standing before us is J.E.H. MacDonald’s "Lake McArthur, Yoho Park," painted in 1924. It’s a vibrant piece, captured en plein air, so outdoors, intimately connected to its subject. Editor: The water is calling me... that vibrant, turquoise expanse. It's almost unbelievable; it's like a portal. You almost don't notice the mountain until later, which is a strange reversal. Curator: Absolutely, and the lake's colour likely owes itself to glacial rock flour suspended within. MacDonald’s bold brushstrokes definitely capture the intensity and sheer scale of the Canadian landscape. I understand it’s oil paint? Editor: Oil on, I imagine, a relatively small panel. These Group of Seven landscapes—while seemingly about the sublime, unfettered wilderness—are commodities, right? Created to be easily transportable, purchased, and hung on the walls of city dwellers. And oil makes the colour pop, making it highly attractive! Curator: True, that portability was important to them. He makes me wonder, did MacDonald mix his own paints or buy them ready-made? The layering creates texture...a haptic surface for the eyes. Editor: MacDonald almost certainly bought ready-made paints. The Group of Seven was acutely aware of industrial advancements in material production. They chose their tools deliberately, enabling them to efficiently produce marketable images. Consider too that 'plein air' also demands efficiency - those brushes have to work in tandem to the pace of light. Curator: So less about some purely spiritual experience with the raw land then? I find his rendering of the snow to be very humanizing in its scruffy, broken strokes; he wasn't trying to romanticize every single patch of land. He captures, just as he sees and feels, the fleeting light of the alpine region, the chill wind biting through layers of tweed, but at the same time the business aspect. Editor: Exactly! The Group's project, under the guise of the 'wilderness experience' has been deeply tied to natural resource extraction and tourism! Even MacDonald was invested in this growth; his paintings serve as advertisements for an industry emerging at that moment! Curator: Well, whatever MacDonald's motives or the mechanics behind creation might have been, his landscape offers such beautiful reflections that inspire awe, just standing before it today. Editor: True, so much more there to notice when one lingers.