Macdonald, Iain
(2024)
William Alister Macdonald (1861-1956) of Scotland and Tahiti.
A portrait of the artist in the third age.
The British Art Journal, XXIV (3).
pp. 33-43.
ISSN 1467-2006
Abstract
Tahiti has long been associated with banker-turned artist Paul Gauguin and celebrated by writers such as Somerset Maugham in Moon & The Sixpence (1919), but in another ‘life is stranger than fiction’ tale, the life of Scottish watercolourist William Alister Macdonald (1861-1956) has been something of mystery to those outside of French Polynesia. After stepping off a ship in Tahiti en route to New Zealand, Macdonald began a new life at sixty, forging friendships with American writers Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall who had made their home there, and Zane Grey who was big-game fishing. Travelling alongside these writers his paintings caught timeless landscapes and atmospherics. His approach followed Whistler and Turner, with a knowledge of sea and boats crafted when growing up on the remote coast of northern Scotland, then along the Thames after moving to London as a young bank clerk. New research illuminates a life well-lived.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
William Alister Macdonald; 1861-1956; Scotland; Tahiti;
portrait; artist; third age; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Design Innovation |
| Item ID: |
18310 |
| Depositing User: |
Iain Macdonald
|
| Date Deposited: |
26 Mar 2024 10:32 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
The British Art Journal |
| Publisher: |
The British Art Journal in association with the Berger Collection Educational Trust |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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