Despite a life and career marred by tragedy and mental illness, James Macdonald Barnsley (1861-1929) was one of Canada’s most successful artists, exhibiting widely and gaining international recognition as a maritime and landscape painter. Unfortunately despite his early successes he is relatively unknown - his career was cut short by paranoid schizophrenia and his artistic output was limited to only thirteen years. In addition to a brief career, Barnsley burned or destroyed many of his works at the height of his illness, further limiting the availability of his pieces. While he was very successful in his brief prime, today he remains an under-recognised yet fascinating figure in Canadian art history.
This website is dedicated to his life and work.
News
October 2026
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Dealer News
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Rookleys Canadian Art has added a Barnsley page to their website and have multiple works for sale! The paintings can be viewed on the "Available Works" page. Contact Rookleys directly for more information - www.Rookleys.com.
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New work documented!
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Many thanks to Jeanie for submitting a lovely painting - Come Along, Auffragis. Likely painted around 1887 in the small commune of Auffragis, France. This one has been passed down through the same family for generations. The painting can be found on the "Catalogue" page.
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New work discovered!
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A conservator at The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts recently discovered a new work hiding on the verso of their painting Windmill in Holland. They have called it Seascape. It can be found on the "Catalogue" page. Many thanks to Marie-Claude from the museum for notifying me.
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September 2026
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Site Launch!
Featured Works
Entrance to the Port of Dieppe (1886)
Oil on Canvas. 42.75 x 59.75 inches. Collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Considered a masterpiece by many prominent critics of the time. Exhibited to favourable reviews in the 1886 Paris Salon. Also exhibited with W Scott & Sons, Montreal (1887), Art association of Montreal (1888), Royal Montreal Regiment Westmount (1944 - 1946) and JM Barnsley Retrospective Exhibition tour (1965). Donated by the wife of famed numismatic collector William Walter Coulthard Wilson. Photo graciously provided by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
High Tide at Dieppe (1886)
Oil on Canvas. 42.5 x 58 3/8 inches. Collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
One of Barnsley’s finest works. Presented at the St. Louis Exposition (1886), the Royal Canadian Academy Montreal Exhibition (1887;1894), Royal Montreal Regiment Westmount (1944 - 1946), Vancouver Art Gallery, 1963, and JM Barnsley Retrospective Exhibition tour (1965). This painting was previously in the collection of the family of well known Canadian artist James Wilson Morrice. Photo graciously provided by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Last Rays (1887)
Oil on Canvas 55 x 75.75 inches. Collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
A well received painting presented in Art Association of Montreal Spring show 1892. Awarded first prize for the landscape category and won a special prize as the most popular painting in the show. The painting perfectly captures Barnsley’s generally muted palate yet highlights his mastery over subtle variations of colour - in this case the many greens used to reflect the changing light. Photo graciously provided by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Gapland (1889)
Oil on Canvas. 44 x 30 inches. Private Collection
Commissioned by famed Civil War correspondent, reporter, and author George Alfred Townsend (Gath) who is best known for his unparalleled coverage of the Lincoln assassination. The scene is of Townsend’s famous Gapland estate in rural Maryland. The piece was commissioned when Barnsley along with fellow artist Silas Jerome Uhl spent the weekend in Townsend’s company in May 1889. Six other paintings of the area were commissioned during this trip but are now lost. Townsend and Barnsley shared a mutual acquaintance in Andrew Carnegie who also owned some of Barnsley's paintings.
There are few Canadian painters whose works deserved more recognition than Mr. Barnsley, Montreal Daily Star, 1903