A Dictionary of Canadian Artists™
A resource of biographies compiled and edited by Colin S. MacDonald

"The ultimate guide to Canadian Art" (MacLeans Magazine)

"tireless efforts ...one unique indivudual ... has toiled nearly half a century to record the history of the arts in Canada... [a] masterpeice..invaluable reference tools for curators, librarians, art dealers, collectors, teachers, and art lovers."
(National Gallery of Canada Newletter, August 2007)

"The support that this project has received from our patrons is a testament to the historic value that Canadian artists and their works bring to the national and international visual arts community"
(Marie Claire-Marin, Presidentand CEO, Nation Gallery of Canada Foundation)

VOLUME 8, JUST RELEASED $35

This series of books offer over 5000 biographies of living and dead Canadian visual artists and sculptors, with a reference list for further information on each artist. This book comes in 8 volumes totaling over 3000 pages. Writing these biographies became the life work of Colin S. MacDonald which he began in 1961. In July 2003, he was featured in Maclean's Magazine and is listed in both the Canadian and North American Who's Who.

Why does a book called "A Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction" by Anthony Westbridge have almost the same title?

For many years Colin MacDonald advertised his book in Anthony Westbridge's magazine and even gave him a complimentary copy of A Dictionary of Canadian Artists™. When Colin hit old age, Anthony Westbridge produced a book called "A Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction," with almost the same layout, containing some paraphrased biographies from Mr. MacDonald's work. It is less than 20% of the size of Colin's book, and capitalized on the goodwill that A Dictionary of Canadian Artists™ has among fine art collectors and auction houses. Anthony Westbridge has written about how to make money with art but he doesn't mention that one of his money making schemes took advantage of an 83 year old man who gave 50 years to this work. Colin MacDonald's original book is a critically acclaimed and meticulously researched lifetime project, which is available here.

Buy now online $172 per set + $18 (Shipping in Canada)= $190 per set
or call Canadian Paperback's Publishing Inc. at 613-722-1171.

National Gallery of Canada buys the copyright to A Dictionary of Canadian Artists™

In July 2007, Colin MacDonald at 83 years old sold his copyright for A Dictionary of Canadian Artists™ to the National Gallery of Canada. They are planning to continue the project and put it online. The hard copy of the books will continue to sell on this web site and at fine ressellers across the country.

Text version of this article in MaCleans magazine here

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