Description
This low mintage 2013 $20 fine silver coin celebrates the extremely popular Group of Seven, and the art of J.E.H. MacDonald. The coin is double struck in just over one ounce of pure silver, and feature a near flawless proof finish. Mintage is limited to 7,000 coins. HST/GST exempt.
The Design:
The coin is an engraved recreation of J.E.H. MacDonald’s famous work, Sumacs (1915). Sumacs was one of several decorative panels that the Group of Seven was commissioned to paint in the Georgian Bay cottage of Toronto opthamologist and art patron, Dr. James MacCallum. The coin illustrates the robust texture of MacDonald’s original work, which used intense pigmentation to evoke the ruddy autumnal haze of sumacs in the fall. The image is framed with a polished band featuring the words “CANADA” and “J.E.H. MacDONALD,” the date “2013” and the face value of “20 DOLLARS.”
James Edward Hervey MacDonald:
In 1887 at the age of 14, James Edward Hervey MacDonald emigrated from Durham, England to Hamilton, Ontario. The son of a Canadian cabinetmaker and an English mother, MacDonald studied art in Hamilton and Toronto. He began a career in commercial design in 1895, only to abandon it in the second decade of the 1900s when he was encouraged by mentor Lawren Harris to paint full-time. One of MacDonald’s great friends was the painter Tom Thomson—and the two artists had an enormous influence on each other.
