Donald Cyril Loach (1905-1964) - Artist, Sculptor, Outdoorsman

Donald Loach lived and was educated in Toronto. Following high school he attended the Ontario College of Art. After graduation he continued advanced classes in the evening while working during the day.

He began his business career with the Bank of Toronto. His first posting was in the village of Mount Albert, where he met Hilda Davidson, who would later become his wife. Later he moved to the Head Office in Toronto where he remained until his death from cancer in 1964.

Donald Loach loved the outdoors and spent as much time as possible in the natural world as a hunter, fisherman, skier and golfer. He won the championship at the Annual Toronto Dominion Bank Go If Tournament two years in a row. One of his winter pastimes was creating beautiful and useful fishing flies.

Several pieces of his sculptures were cast in bronze including an impressive Atlas, and an exact miniature of one of the cannons at Fort York, Toronto and a whimsical golfer clad in brightly enameled plus-fours. These pieces are now in private collections.

Donald's real passion was painting. He produced an enormous body of work during his lifetime. He often gave paintings away to admirers or adjusted his prices to fit the status and relationship of the purchaser. The highest priced painting was sold to the President of The Dominion Bank.

Like most artists his style of painting changed over the years as he grew and matured in his work. This was particularly true following an accident in which he lost one eye. One interesting note is the variety of signatures on his paintings ranging from a very sedate "D.C. Loach" to "Donald Loach", "Don Loach" and even occasionally simply "Don". No doubt these signatures were reflecting his mood at the time.

Beyond his artwork, Donald Loach was a clever and talented man. He played the piano and had a fine singing voice. In the words of Professor M. A. MacKenzie, University of Toronto, "He is first class stuff".

Loach biography by Harold Kaufmann

The D.C. Loach Collection (click photo for enlargement)