McVickar Watercolor Gallery : About the Artist

Malcolm McVickar

Influences on the Artist

His main inspiration has come from these classical artists: Caravaggio for powerful chiaroscuro style, Lionel Feininger for monumental, mysterious interaction of geometric forms, Charles Burchfield for his strong contrasting values, Charles Demuth for endowing the ordinary scenes with unique and interesting emphasis, Edward Hopper for his unmatched ability to give loneliness a palpable form, Elliot O'Hara for broad washes and simple, bold composition, Ogden Pleissner for his masterful control of watercolor, John Pike for draftsmanship and effective simplification of complex images, John Singer Sargent for his rendition of tactile textures and his vivid treatment of color under different lights, Percy Gray for giving trees such dignity, Thaddeus Welch for his atmosphere, Ted Kautsky for bringing sunlight into much of his work, and Claude Monet, who painted the sunlight, instead of the stonework, on the Rouen Cathedral.

A brief biography and statement

Born:	Tuxedo Park, New York 1915
Education:	Attended Harvard University and was graduated from Columbia School of Business in 1938.
Work:	During WW II he commanded several minesweepers in the Atlantic, Pacific and Far East, retiring as a Lieutenant USNR. The artist was a real estate broker and held various industrial positions over a 40 year period prior to retiring and devoting his uninterrupted attention to his painting.
Personal:	After living in the East, Middlewest and now California, the artist and his wife, Marion Bullard, live happily in St. Helena among the vineyards of Napa Valley, America's "Provence". He has four grown children, four stepchildren and ten grandchildren.

Studied with:	Anzonella K. McVickar	Zoltan Szabo
	Julius Delbos	George Post
	Richard Yip	Christopher Schink
	Barbara Irvine	Jerry Stitt

Mr. McVickar has been painting in watercolor and gouache since the age of 12. One of his favorite sports is sailing and his love of it is reflected in many of his water scenes.

A Curriculum Vitae

Exhibitions, Recognition and Awards:

Massachusetts Regional Art Exhibition - Honorable Mention 1950
San Francisco Hall of Flowers, Special Recognition Award 1975
Gold Medal of Honor 1976-1977
Award of Excellence 1978
San Francisco Zellerbach Building, Juried Shows, Exhibitor
East Bay Watercolor Society 1978-1980
Marin Watercolor Society 1979-1980-1982
Marin Artists Society "Romantic View" Juried Show Merit Award 1989
Napa County Art Show
Napa Town and Country Fair Art Show
In 1997, at the Napa County Fair, a local show in which he often entered his recent work, he was awarded "Best of Show", all media and First Place in watercolor for his elegant "Victorian Splendor" and Second Place for his dramatic "Seventh Wave", and Honorable Mention for "Reflected Light on the Palisades".

Several one man shows

Art Societies:

Wine Country Artists
Napa Arts Council
Former member and currently retired from:San Diego Watercolor Society
Marin Society of Artists - Past President and Life Member
Marin County Watercolor Society
Rocky Mountain Watercolor Society
North West Watercolor Society
Society of Western Artists
National Watercolor Society
American Artists Professional League
American Watercolor Society
Collections:

Mr. McVickar's paintings hang in private collections in the United Kingdom, Europe and in 20 or more states around the United States.

Personal Statement:

At the age of 12, with mumps, I received a watercolor palette from my mother, who was an accomplished artist, to occupy myself. I have been painting ever since. Though I was kicked out of art class in prep school as a hopeless case, I kept on painting. I painted wherever I was, from the bridge of my minesweeper in the China Sea, the Philippines, Norfolk, Virginia Naval Base, skiing in New Hampshire, camping in Vermont, even the gas works in Houston, rainy night scenes in San Francisco, and the beautiful Napa Valley where every vista is waiting to be painted. Almost every year (since the mumps), I've studied with the best artists I could find, famous or not so famous - all helped me to portray what I saw. My interests are out of control. Beauty is everywhere in the subtleties of light, broad vista, close-up fragments of scenes, countryside or urban, all cast their spell and find themselves in my work. I paint for the love of it, and hope only that the works will give a sense of joy of "being there" to others.

Chopin once said: "If I have been able to create some harmonies in a discordant world my life will have been a success." My ideal would be to have stood in the shadow of that thought.