Born in Montreal, Quebec, McEwen studied pharmacy at the University of Montreal (1949) and is for the most part a self-taught painter. He was strongly influenced by Jean-Paul Riopelle, Paul-Emile Borduas and the Automatiste. He traveled in Paris (1951–1953), Greece (1963), and Majorca (1964). Working in oil, acrylic and watercolor, his early work featured still life but he turned to the lyrical abstraction about 1960. He was President of the AANFM in 1959–1962, received a Canada Council award in 1961, 1965 and 1977. He died in Montreal. McEwen also painted several murals, an example of which are to be found in the Toronto Airport and Place des Arts de Montreal. He exhibited with the RCA in 1963–1971, the MMFA in 1949–1968, the Sao-Paulo Biennale in 1963, and had a solo exhibition at the MAC in 1973. His work is in the collections of the AGO, CCAB. (The Collector’s Dictionary vol. 3)