We were given a jeep and a driver and left to do something called war art…. We received our supplies of paint, brushes and things in London before we went over; I took oil and a paintbox and a lot of watercolours.” This was T.R. MacDonald describing his first days as an official war artist in northern Italy during the Second World War. And although the subject of war art was relatively new to him in 1944, by the time he enlisted—in March 1941—MacDonald was a seasoned artist. Born in Montreal in 1908, the artist studied figurative painting and thrived in the stimulating and diverse culture of his hometown. He continued to paint, and after his enlistment served with the Canadian Army’s 7th Reconnaissance Regiment. Within a few years he was put to work as a service artist. Commissioned...