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economist sunsuntribune saturday may 7 2005 tery s team solves decadesold riddle behind painting by group of seven member and york region resident by lisa queen staff writer n the end it all came down to a sunflower reaching sky ward for the suns rays funny that something so seemingly trivial could un lock the key to a mystery sur rounding a canadian cultural icon the sunflower is part of the tangled garden perhaps the best- known painting by artist james edward hervey jeh macdon ald a founding member of the group of seven while it had long been suspected the artist captured the famous scene in 1916 at his thomhill property at 121 centre st known as four elms it had never been proven there were also rumours he could have relied on a setting up north for inspiration as a member of the group of seven mr macdon ald travelled to places such as geor gian bay and algonquin park to cap ture scenes on canvas i thought jeh macdonald was so famous that somebody some art student would have written his phd on the tangled garden but we couldnt find it it was just painstaking going through it all said susan macdonald a relative of the artist who is part of a committee researching the history of the paint ing and restoring the property david waverman is also part of the team he is a senior landscape architect with stantec consulting which was hired by the city ofvaughan to work on the project which is costing 190000 the city acquired the property from mr macdonalds son thoreau macdonald in 1974 mr waverman helped recognize the significance of the sunflower after team members had finally managed to establish the tangled garden had been painted- at four elms they believed the actual spot was up against the west side of house because slats of a building can be seen through the artworks tangle of flowers but mr waverman realized there is ho way the sunflower in the paint ing would be straining northward to the sky because sunflowers track the sun from east to west that meant the teams perspec tive had to be shifted 90 degrees after searching thoreau mac- donalds journals and sketches of the property the team determined there had been a horse barn on the property which burned down in the 1930s a closer look at the painting revealed hinges for a barn door mr waverman said the city hired an archeology con sulting firm which quickly found the footings of the barn posts recently erected stand as a symbolic outline of the structure it then became obvious the rise of the land leading up to the old barn was the scene mr macdonald had captured in the tangled garden 16 years before his death in 1932 when the team started off its research about five years ago it believed it could pinpoint the loca- staff photosteve somerville susan macdonald and david waverman are part of a team restoring the property of group of seven painter jeh macdonald in thornhill theyve also been part of an effort to figure out where he captured the scene in his most famous painting the tangled garden the posts represent where a barn once stood and where the sunflower in the painting was located the tangled garden is perhaps the bestknown piece by artist james edward hervey jeh macdonald who lived in thornhill when he painted it in 1916 tion of the garden relatively easily reality proved much more challenging what we thought would have taken a couple of months took a couple of years mr waverman said but the work was worth the effort ms macdonald said i was relieved we found the right location because we didnt want to do the research improperly the eyes of the art world were on us she remembers visiting four elms often as a girl tagging along with her nowdeceased father jack macdonald who helped care for thoreau macdonald and tended to the property it had operated for years as a fully working farm and apple orchard and often played host to members of the group of seven who dropped by to paint or chat with other artists ah the group of seven were here at one time or another for conversa- tions of for painting said ms mac donald who is the grandniece of thoreau macdonald jeh mac- donalds only child when i came here i originally found it was from another time like it was forgotten in time he thore au lived like a pioneer also a noted artist thoreau mac- donalds black and white sketches of rural vaughan are considered a valu able record of country life but even as late as the 1960s and 70s he had no running water in his home jack macdonalds sugges tions that he install a toilet indoors fell on deaf ears i was relieved we found the right location because we didnt want to do the research improperly the eyes of the art world were on us thoreau macdonald insisted on coal to heat the home long after that was the norm eventually jack mac donald had to buy coal from the one distant supplier still in business thoreau macdonalds only modern convenience was a tran sistor radio thoreau macdonald lived in home until 1980 and died may 30 1989 at the age of 89 the property was designated as a historical home under the ontario heritage act in 1983 but was permit- ted to go derelict for about 20 years before the steering committee became involved today a restoration project has meant the grounds have been cleaned up while the home has running water and has been revitalized this weekend volunteers are planting flowers in an effort to recre ate the famous garden ms macdonald also runs an annual art show and sale out of the house in september as part of the thornhill villagefestival im always coming up with new ideas for the property said ms mac donald who shows off the restora tions with enthusiasm to view the tangled garden search for the title on the web site httpcybermusegalleryca another york region group of seven connection is through mem ber fred varley who lived and paint ed in unionville for many years today a town of markham- owned art gallery in unionville is named after him ms macdonald can be reached at fourelmsconsultinghotmailcom m dr h h waiji 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