Biography from Sunflower Fine Art Gallery & Framing:
| Thomas McKnight’s paintings, serigraphs and posters, phenomenally
popular with the public, have placed him in an elite group of
contemporary artists whose work can be instantly recognizable as his
own. Be it a carnival in Venice, a sundrenched street in Greece,
a cozy well furnished room, a tropical beach or a mythological scene,
McKnight’s images invite you to experience the unfettered joy of
living. "I try to integrate what is real about a place or thing with
its underlying truth its invisible soul," muses the artist. "In the
process I try to create a symbolic reality that can serve as a catalyst
for emotions, nostalgia, joy, the sadness of time passing." According
to noted New York Times critic Gene Thornton, McKnight's work
presents "visions of earthly happiness that are almost celestial. It is
the vision of earthly paradise that exists in the here and now.
Thomas McKnight's pictures remind us of how good life can be in those
rare moments when all is well in the world."
Born in 1941 in
Lawrence, Kansas, Thomas McKnight grew up in suburbs of Montreal, New
York City and Washington, D.C. After receiving his Bachelor's
Degree from Wesleyan University, he studied art history at Columbia
University. He then served in Korea with the army for two years, and
later worked for Time Magazine. Since deciding to devote himself
to painting full time in 1972, McKnight’s work has been exhibited in
over two hundred and fifty one man shows through out the United States,
Europe and Japan, and has appeared everywhere from the cover of Reader’s Digest to
pages of Japanese calendars to the walls of restaurants in southern
China. His prints have appeared in numerous movies and television
shows including Beverly Hills 90210 and When Harry Met Sally. At a recent Cannes Film Festival, actor director Robert Redford remarked that McKnight was his favorite artist.
McKnight's
private, public, corporate and museum collections are too numerous to
list here. In 1988, McKnight’s Constitution was chosen as the
official image of the U.S. Constitution Bicentennial. In fact, Constitution
was one of only three art works which First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
chose to bring to Washington from Little Rock when President Clinton
was elected. The serigraph hangs in the White House solarium
which serves as the first family's living room. Longtime McKnight
fans, the Clintons asked the artist to create an image for the
presidential Christmas card in 1994 and again in 1995. His warm
home and hearth renderings of the White House Red Room and Blue Room at
holiday time have now appeared on half a million cards sent out
worldwide from the White House.
Six books of McKnight’s art
have been published (two in Japan) including the most recent Voyage to
Paradise. He was commissioned by Dennis Connor in 1992 to paint
two images commemorating the America's Cup races, and by the city of
Kobe, Japan in 1993 to create a series of paintings to serve as the
centerpiece for the two year celebration of its tricentennial. After
the devastating earthquake which hit Kobe in 1995, McKnight created an
earthquake relief poster |
| ** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at registrar@AskART.com. |
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