A Retrospective in Memoriam: Robert MacDonald Graham, Jr.
FAYETTE, Mo. – The paintings of well-known Missouri Artist Robert
MacDonald Graham Jr., who recently passed away, are being featured in a
two-part exhibition for nearly two months in the art galleries at
Central Methodist College.
Opening March 28 in the Ashby-Hodge Gallery of American Art and the
Stephens Museum/Gallery is an exhibition titled "A Retrospective in
Memoriam: Robert MacDonald Graham Jr." Graham, an internationally known
artist and former student of Thomas Hart Benton, died Feb. 11 in Kansas
City at the age of 80.
The exhibition features 40 of Graham’s paintings in the Ashby-Hodge
Gallery and Graham’s "Missouri Springs" series of 12 paintings in the
Stephens Gallery. The Ashby-Hodge Gallery exhibition includes acrylics,
oils, and watercolors. Among these are a self-portrait Graham did at the
age of 20 in 1941 when he was a student of Benton’s, country scenes in
the United States and historic sites in Europe. Many have never been
shown in the Ashby-Hodge Gallery or in other central Missouri
exhibitions.
"The show mirrors a true retrospective of his work from his teenage
years through his late 70s," said Dr. Joseph E. Geist, curator of the
Ashby-Hodge and Stephens galleries. "In addition to highlighting his
work through many decades, the paintings also focus on his journeys both
in and out of America."
Graham's style has been described as both poetic and haunting. His
strong use of color reflects the influence of Benton. And the luminosity
of his work shows the influence of artists such as Eakins, Homer, Turner
and Vermeer, painters known for their use of light and shadow.
His art will be on display at Central Methodist College through May 14.
The galleries will be open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from
1:30 to 4:30 p.m., and on Sundays, except for Easter, from 2:30 to 4:30
p.m. Special showings can be arranged by contacting Dr. Geist at (660)
248-6304 or 248-6324.
Graham made a gift of the 12 "Missouri Springs" paintings to the College
in 1997. The paintings represent some of Missouri's most beautiful
natural areas and include the magnificent Big Spring at Big Spring Park
near Van Buren and Blue Spring, both in the Ozark National Scenic
Riverways; picturesque Alley Spring and Mill and Round Spring near
Eminence; Bennett Spring near Lebanon; and several other well-known
major springs of the Missouri Ozarks.
"The [Springs] paintings add distinction and a vast new dimension to the
Midwest Regionalism of the Ashby-Hodge collection," said Thomas L.
Yancey, former curator of the CMC galleries. "We are pleased to be able
to carry on the legacy of Thomas Hart Benton through the paintings of
Robert MacDonald Graham, who was associated with Benton as a student of
his at the Kansas City Art Institute from 1937 to 1941."
The "Missouri Springs" paintings are the second set of his major works
now owned by Central Methodist College, which acquired Graham's 12
"Missouri Historic Heritage Site" paintings in 1994. Included in the
Heritage series are paintings of the Rotunda of the Capitol Building at
Jefferson City; George Washington Carver National Monument near Diamond;
the historic Catholic Church at St. Genevieve; and the Winston Churchill
Memorial at Fulton.
Both the Heritage and Springs series paintings were completed during the
1980s.
A native of Missouri, Graham lived in the Kansas City suburb of
Greenwood. He was born in 1919 in New York City. He started painting
when he was 14 years old. He studied with Thomas Hart Benton at the
Kansas City Art Institute from 1937 to 1941 and with Jules Van
Vlasselaer at Hoger Institute voor Schone, Antwerp, Belgium, from 1948
to 1949. One of his first professional assignments was as a combat
artist in Australia, New Guinea and Japan during World War II; a number
of his works are represented in the Pentagon collection.
Graham taught art at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the
University of Texas. His biography is listed in "Who’s Who in American
Art," "Men of Achievement" and the International Biographics Center,
Cambridge, England.
Graham’s works have been reproduced by the New York Geographic Society,
and many of his original works are held in private and public
collections. These include the archives of the Hubert H. Humphrey
Center, Minneapolis; Georgetown University Collection, Washington, D.C.;
Sowolski Collection, Sarasota, Fla.; Thomas Hart Benton Collection,
Kansas City; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio;
Grumbacher Collection, New York City; and The Ashby-Hodge Gallery of
American Art at Central Methodist College.
Graham was a several-times recipient of the M.J. Kaplan Award presented
by the National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylics (NSPCA), of
which he was also elected a member. In 1991, he was awarded the John J.
Newman Medal, NSPCA, by the National Arts Club.
