Achi news desk-
Canada’s Whyte Rockies Museum in Banff is preparing an exhibition to showcase a never-before-seen collection of landscape photos of Lake O’Hara and Yoho National Park by one of the esteemed founders of the Group of Seven.
The collection will pay tribute to the 100th anniversary of James Edward Hervey (JEH) MacDonald’s first trip to Lake O’Hara.
It includes paint scratches, artefacts and current site photographs from an Alberta couple who researched and documented the scenes painted by MacDonald during his trips to the area between 1924 and 1932.
“We are so excited. We are the only institution in the country that will be exhibiting this amazing show,” said Anne Ewen, director and chief curator of the Whyte Museum.
Almost 100 of MacDonald’s pictures from his trips to the area are on loan from more than 20 different galleries and 30 private collectors.
“Some of these things have never been exhibited before,” said curatorial assistant Amie Lalonde.
“Some are in vaults and are not seen very often. Some are probably well known but not as well known as MacDonald’s eastern works from Algoma so, I think it’s a very good opportunity for the public to see MacDonald’s work from the west that they may not be aware of.”
Paint scratches found next to where MacDonald sat to paint have been analyzed by the Canadian Conservation Institute and will match the paintings.
“They could have been MacDonald’s but they are definitely of the era. They could have been paint scraps from Peter White, they could have been paint scraps from Carl Rungius. All those artists used the same paint at that time,” says Ewen. “It’s oil paint so it’s not like it’s going to wash off. I think the other reason it’s still there is that people don’t know where it is.”
The exhibit will also include letters, diaries and two kettles used to make tea that were mashed into rocks at one of MacDonald’s painting sites, offering a new look at the artist’s process.
“It’s a perfect mix of art and history and it also has a contemporary aspect with the photographs and you can see how the landscape has changed over the last 100 years or stayed the same in many ways,” said Lalonde.
“[Lake O’Hara] it’s so stunning when you’re there and I think JEH really captures it faithfully and has a different eye for places.”
‘We got hooked to be honest’
The exhibit would not be a reality without the Alberta couple’s research of MacDonald’s photos of Lake O’Hara.
Over more than 20 years, retired geologists Patty Cucman and the late Stanley Munn studied, identified and traveled to the exact locations of MacDonald’s work.
“It was kind of romantic,” Cucman said. “We would spend the winters looking for images of paintings and Stan started cataloging his photographs according to the paintings, and it turned into a full love affair. We really got hooked.”
Cucman says the pair’s passion was further fueled by discovering paint scratches and some artifacts after walking through a challenging landscape.
“We found paint on rocks next to where he sat and there were many locations we knew it was quite remote, when we sat on the rock we knew the last person who sitting there was Uncle Jim. [MacDonald],” she said.
“When you were sitting next to that paint, the whole landscape broke into perfect perspective and to see this paint was put there in 1925 and we probably found that in 2012.”
Cucman also remembers finding artefacts in the same location pictured in a photo of MacDonald on one of his trips to the area.
“I got down on my hands and knees and stuck my head in this little crevice in the rocks and there was a broken teacup that matched the teacups in the picture. So, something like that is such an obvious connection to someone who loved the area as much as we do.”
The couple’s findings are documented in an illustrated book which will appear for the first time at the exhibition, which is a bittersweet milestone for Cucman, as it will mark one year since Munn’s death last summer.
“It is very unfortunate that it is not here to celebrate because there have been several small milestones along the way,” he said. “But he will be there with us in spirit I know.”
JEH MacDonald: The O’Hara era opens June 15 at the Whyte Museum and runs until October 20.
