O-795
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painting (portrait)
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The Right Honourable Sir John Alexander Macdonald

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painting (portrait)

Specifications

Artists	Henry J. Sandham (Artist)
Date	1889/06/03
Signature	Hy Sandham 1889
Inscriptions	RT. HON SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD,P.C. G.C.B., Q.C. PRIME MINISTER 1867-1873 1878-1891 LE TRÈS HON. SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD, C.P., G.C.B., C.R. PREMIER MINISTRE 1867-1873 1878-1891
Materials	paint, oil
Support	canvas
Personal Names	John Alexander Macdonald (House of Commons)
Dimensions (cm)	182.9 (Width) • 149.8 (Height) • 12.7 (Depth)
Functions	Art

Portrait of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald

The unveiling of Henry Sandham’s portrait of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, on the leader’s 75th birthday in 1890, was an unofficial launch of the tradition of official portraits for Canadian Prime Ministers. The ceremony in the original Parliament building revealed a portrait of a determined and confident leader. No background accoutrements were required for the Glasgow-born Macdonald, as the vivid uniform of the Imperial Privy Council and the Order of the Bath spoke boldly of accomplishment and respect.

Though recognized as instrumental to the creation of Canada, in recent years Macdonald has been criticized for his role in the nation’s mistreatment of Indigenous peoples.

Henry Sandham

Henry Sandham was born in Montreal in 1842 and, despite his father discouraging a career in art, by his teenage years the boy was working in the renowned Notman Photographic Studio. There he would begin to learn illustration and painting, rise to be head of the art department, and devise the technique of composite photographs for which the studio is still known today.

Later, Sandham grew his reputation as an illustrator and painter of portraits, landscapes and historical themes, first in France and England, and then in Boston, before he returned to England for his final years.

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