In 1940 the Trustees recommended against his reappointment and he was effectively dismissed in 1941. In 1943 he was first witness on behalf of those who brought an action against the award of the Archibald Prize to William Dobell for his portrait of Joshua Smith. From 1943 to 1947 he was the art critic for The Age and was appointed to the Commonwealth Art Advisory Board, becoming Chairman from 1949-1952. Macdonald lived in Montrose and later joined the Liberal Party of Australia. MacDonald died in Melbourne on 12 November 1952 and was cremated. In 1958 a collection of his writings, 'Australian Painting Desiderata', was published with a foreword by Menzies. His portrait by Hugh Ramsay is held by the University of Melbourne.