Macdonald, Jock

Macdonald, Jock (b Thurso, 31 May 1897; d Toronto, 3 Dec. 1960).
Canadian painter, born in Scotland. He emigrated to Canada in 1926 to teach at the new Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts. His early work was in the Group of Seven tradition, but in 1934 he painted his first abstract work, Formative Colour Activity (NG, Ottawa). In the late 1930s he became a friend of Emily Carr, and in 1940 of Lawren Harris, who encouraged him in his abstract experiments. These included automatic paintings in a Surrealist vein. During the last five years of his life Macdonald's output was prodigious, as he threw himself into experimenting with various techniques and media. He taught at several art colleges over the course of his career and played a leading role in advancing the cause of modern art in Canada.