Works produced by Group of Seven founding member J.E.H. MacDonald after his return from England in 1907 show the pronounced impact of the British and European paintings he had experienced there, particularly those of John Constable and J.M.W. Turner. These influences can be sensed here in his gestural, expressive application of paint, with its focus on light and colour, showcasing MacDonald’s exploration of a new and modern view of landscape.

It was small, impactful works like this one that Lawren Harris viewed in 1911 at Toronto’s famed Arts and Letters Club, leading Harris to seek an introduction to MacDonald. This in turn led to their subsequent invitation by A.Y. Jackson to Toronto in 1913, setting in motion the events that would give rise to the Group and their era-defining artistic expressions. Although private feeling, and almost diaristic in nature, the small oil sketches MacDonald created during this period are of foundational importance to the history of Canadian art.