Donaldson painted literary subjects and landscapes, travelling widely in Europe in search of views and having links with the Etruscan School. He made his first visit to Italy in the mid-1860s, and one of the products, a watercolour of the Villa Borghese in Rome (Victoria and Albert Museum), was included in The Etruscans exhibition held at the York Art Gallery and Leighton House, London, in 1989 (no.45). Not surprisingly in view of these affiliations, his work was bought by George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle. He exhibited at the Royal Academy (1862-98), the Society of British Artists (member 1875) and the Dudley Gallery, Piccadilly (see lot 67).

Donaldson's Witt Library file is meagre, but the present, rather symbolist, watercolour seems characteristic. A Scene from Tannhäuser of 1875, sold at Sotheby's Belgravia on 30 March 1982, lot 242, is comparable in design and detail.