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

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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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