Grant Macdonald (1944- )

A
painter of Texas landscape and wildlife in "interpretive realism,"
Grant Macdonald was born in Leesburg, Virginia in 1944 and lives in New
Mexico. Raised in Baird, Texas, he began to draw at age six and took
private instruction while in grade school. After completing his
secondary education in Virginia, Macdonald received his BFA from the
University of Mississippi in 1966. He served as an officer in the Air
Force until 1970, and after that received a Master of Fine Arts degree
from the University of Texas at Austin.

In 1971 Macdonald moved
to Kerrville in the Texas Hill Country where he gained widespread
recognition for his landscapes and wildlife art. His long-time interest
in the human form found new expression in his portrayals of contemporary
ranch life. Since moving to northern New Mexico the focus of his work
has shifted toward the subjects offered by that region.

More
recently MacDonald has expanded his range of subject matter to include
places he and his wife love to explore, such as the coast of New England
and the cities and countryside of France. He has participated in
several major exhibitions, including the American Art Classic and the
Western Heritage Sale in Houston, the Collector's Sale in Dallas, and
major auctions in Santa Fe. He has had several feature articles
published about his art in major publications, including Southwest Art in 1972 and 1992 and Art of the West in 1990.

"What
I seek to portray in my art is not so much what people see but what
they remember about a place. I am a realist, but I'm not attempting
simply to document nature. I try to identify the essential qualities
that elicit an emotional response and communicate hat response through
my work."

A
painter of the Texas landscape and wildlife in "interpretive realism,"
born in Leesburg, Virginia in 1944 and living in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
"Some people regard artists," he points out, "as nothing more than a
reflection of contemporary society, for better or worse. They seem to
think that when society catches a cold, the function of the artist is to
sneeze, frame his handkerchief, and call it art.Raised in Baird, Texas,
he began to draw at six and took private instruction while in grade
school.

After completing his secondary education in Virginia,
Grant MacDonald received his BFA from the University of Mississippi in
1966, served as an officer in the Air Force until 1970, and settled in
Kerrville to paint. The "primary interest was portraiture, but my move
to the Texas Hill County resulted in a new awareness of landscape and
wildlife which is abundant here. Also, my long-time interest in the
human form has found new expression in my portrayals of contemporary
ranch life."

"I believe the viewer brings his own experience and
imagination to a painting, but an artist should not depend on his
viewer. An artist should also be a craftsman. He must have mastered
technical skills. An untrained child wildly banding on a piano is
expressing himself, but we would hardly call him a musician. The same
standard should apply to artist.