Black Spruce by Thoreau MacDonald

Thoreau MacDonald, illustrator, designer and painter, was born in Toronto in 1901. A self-taught painter, Thoreau worked alongside his father J.E.H. MacDonald. Colour blindness forced him to work mainly in black and white palettes. He illustrated for the Ryerson Press and the Canadian Forum magazine during the 1920s and 30s, a period when Canadian illustrated prints flourished. In general, his subject matter paralleled his father’s, though he tended to favour Ontario farmscapes.