Mist Fantasy, Sand River, Algoma (1920) and The Solemn Land (1921), elegant works that are meditations on his longtime experience in design combined with fiery colour. Group of Seven In 1920, MacDonald co-founded the Group of Seven, which dedicated itself to promoting a distinct Canadian art developed through direct contact with the Canadian landscape. The other founding members were Frederick Varley, A. Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, and Franklin Carmichael. MacDonald had worked with Lismer, Varley, Johnston, and Carmichael at the design firm Grip Ltd. in Toronto. Together they initiated what they asserted was the first major Canadian national art movement, producing paintings directly inspired by the Canadian landscape. Every summer beginning in 1924 until 1930, MacDonald travelled to the Canadian Rockies to paint the mountain landscapes that dominated his later work. By this time he had become somewhat distant from the rest of the Group of Seven, as he and the other members were involved in their own activities. Later years From 1928 until his death MacDonald served as the Principal of the Ontario College of Art, and he painted with less frequency and less consistent success. Today, MacDonald is viewed with general admiration for his art, with one writer commenting, "no Canadian landscape painter possessed a richer command of colour and pigment than J. E. H. MacDonald ... His brushwork is at once disciplined and vigorous. His best on-the-spot sketches possess an intensity and freshness of execution not dissimilar from Van Gogh." His former home and garden in Vaughan, Ontario have been restored. Owned by the City of Vaughan, they are open to the public. MacDonald suffered a stroke in 1931, and spent the following summer recovering in Barbados. He died in Toronto on 26 November 1932 at the age of 59. He was buried at Prospect Cemetery in Toronto. Legacy On 8 June 1973 Canada Post issued 'J.E.H. MacDonald, painter, 1873–1932' designed by William Rueter based on MacDonald's Mist Fantasy, Northland (1922) in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. The 15¢ stamps were printed by Ashton-Potter Limited. MacDonald has been designated as an Historic Person in the Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. References Footnotes Bibliography Bruce Whitman. J. E. H. MacDonald. Kingston: Quarry Press, 1995. External links CBC Digital Archives - The Group of Seven: Painters in the Wilderness Thoreau and J.E.H. MacDonald fonds at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario Brandon, Laura.