Lot 145
JAMES EDWARD HERVEY MACDONALD, O.S.A., R.C.A.
Lot 145 Details
JAMES EDWARD HERVEY MACDONALD, O.S.A., R.C.A.
A WORD TO US ALL, SOLD TOGETHER WITH A COPY OF A WORD TO US ALL BY J.E.H. MACDONALD, A LIMITED EDITION KEEPSAKE PRINTED ON THE OCCASION OF THE PUBLICATION OF J.E.H. MACDONALD: DESIGNER BY THE ARCHIVES OF CANADA AND TO MARK THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF WILLIAM MORRIS IN 1896, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR AND NUMBERED 299/500
ink and gouache
three works (one double-sided), each inscribed by Thoreau MacDonald
Each 10.75 ins x 8 ins; 27.3 cms x 20.3 cms
Estimate $3,000-$4,000
Additional Images
Provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
Literature:
Robert Stacey, J.E.H. MacDonald, A Word to Us All, Carleton University Press, Ottawa, 1996, page 5.
Robert Stacey, J.E.H. MacDonald: Designer, An Anthology of Graphic Design, Illustration and Lettering, Carleton University Press, Ottawa, 1996, front and back fly leaf for this lot, reproduced.
Note:
According to Thoreau MacDonald (the artist’s son), J.E.H. MacDonald produced this work as a sample when he thought of working at the Roycroft Shops in East Aurora, New York, circa 1900.
Stacey remarks that A Word to Us All reveals a little known fact about one of Canada’s most renowned landscape painters: “His deep attachment to the written word and to the world of organic ornament.” Stacey continues by noting that this work is “the first important statement by (the artist), not only as a graphic designer, lettering artist and illuminator, but as budding poet.”