Perhaps you have read about it. the Vancouver Art Gallery has come into possession of 10 “new” works attributed to J.E.H. MacDonald, a member of Canada’s hallowed Group of Seven. Some doubts have been raised as to the authenticity of the paintings as reported by The Globe and Mail.

The story around these paintings suggests that MacDonald wrapped up and buried the pictures in the 30s to protect them, and they remained buried – safely – until the 70s. I find this part of the story to be incredible and fascinating. I’m a painter and I know plenty of painters. We all have storage problems. At one time I destroyed many of my paintings because I could neither find homes for them nor afford to continue to pay to keep storing them. Still, it never occurred to me to wrap up a bunch of them and go dig a hole in the garden and send them to a temporary grave.

Considering how to go about wrapping up 10 painting in such a way that they do not succumb to the various creepy-crawlies, moulds and fungi, all determined to turn them into a compost heap, makes my head ache. It is very peculiar behaviour. Stranger still is that the painter’s son must have known they were in the ground all those years because in the end he dug them up.

Why were only these paintings buried, and not others? Or, are we to expect other Group of Seven paintings to appear from various Ontario gardens. I’m very interested to see if this art controversy has legs.