McCready Galleries, Toronto
Private Collection, Edmonton
In 1918, J.E.H. MacDonald joined Lawren Harris, Frank Johnston and patron, Dr. MacCallum, on the first painting expedition to Algoma by boxcar. Algoma offered plentiful inspiration for the artists, and MacDonald was able to return on excursions to the scenic region through the next couple of years. "Sunset, Lake Simcoe" was painted shortly after the inaugural exhibition of the Group of Seven at the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1920.
Reminiscent of the work of the English Romantic painters, an early influence on MacDonald, this work is a painterly study of light and atmospheric effects. The sky and water feature wonderfully delicate, shifting hues. The sunset and its reflections act as the only focal points in the picture. "Sunset, Lake Simcoe" shows us a different side to J.E.H. MacDonald, in marked visual contrast to the artist’s acclaimed dense compositions of close-cropped garden views.
