Eric Spencer Macky

Eric Spencer Macky, also known simply as Spencer Macky (1880–1958) was a New Zealand-born American painter, intaglio printmaker, and educator.[1][2] He was known for his landscape paintings and scenes of San Francisco.[3]

Eric Spencer Macky
Born(1880-11-16)November 16, 1880
Ponsonby, New Zealand
DiedMay 5, 1958(1958-05-05) (aged 77)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Other namesSpencer Macky,
E. Spencer Macky
EducationElam Art School, National Gallery of Victoria Art School, Académie Julian
Spouse(s)Constance Lillian Jenkins (m. 1912–1958; death)
Children2
Mother and Child (1916, cropped) by Eric Spencer Macky

Biography

Eric Spencer Macky was born November 16, 1880, in Ponsonby[4] near Auckland, New Zealand.[5][6] He was interested in art at a young age and by age 14, he was attending the Elam Art School on a scholarship and studied under C. F. Goldie.[7][3][5] From 1903 to 1906, Macky attended National Gallery of Victoria Art School (formally National Gallery School of Painting) studying under Lindsay Bernard Hall;[6] and continued studies in 1907 at Académie Julian in Paris under Jean-Paul Laurens.[1]

He arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area between 1910 and 1912.[1][6][2] He taught at California School of Arts and Crafts (now known as California College of the Arts) from 1913 to 1921; University of California, Berkeley; and he was the Dean of California School of Fine Arts (now known as San Francisco Art Institute) from 1919 until 1935.[1] He had notable students including Robert Boardman Howard,[8] George Post,[9] and John Melville Kelly.

Eric Spencer Macky and his spouse Constance founded in 1916, the Spencer Macky Art School in San Francisco.[10] The first location of the school was at Post Street, near Gough Street in a building that housed many other notable artists including Leo Lentelli, Clark Hobart, William Claussen, Louise Mahoney, Florence Lundberg, Sigmund Beel, and George Hyde.[11] The school was popular and moved to a larger space at the "Artists Building" at 535 Sacramento Street in San Francisco.[11] By 1917, the Spencer Macky Art School was merged with the California School of Fine Arts (CSFA; now known as the San Francisco Art Institute).[11]

Macky was married to Constance Lillian Jenkins in 1912 in Berkeley, California.[12] They had two sons, their son, Donald Spencer Macky (1913–2007) was an artist.[13][12]

Death and legacy

Macky died on May 5, 1958, in San Francisco.[6] Macky's work is included in public museum collections, including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,[1] Musée d'Orsay,[14] Seattle Art Museum,[15] and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.[4]

In fall 2013, three lost murals were discovered on the campus of San Francisco Art Institute, including Spencer Mackey’s Life Drawing Class (1936) by Eleanor Bates Streloff.[16] Artist Ruth Cravath carved a bust of Macky in 1935, which is now part of the collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.[17]

References
  1. "Eric Spencer Macky". FAMSF Search the Collections. 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  2. "Reminiscences of Eric Spencer and Constance Macky : oral history transcript / and related material, 1954-1957". Online Archive of California (OAC). 1954. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  3. "Eric Spencer Macky - Biography". AskArt.com. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  4. "Eric Macky". Auckland Art Gallery. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  5. Hughes, Edan Milton. "Artists in California, 1786-1940".
  6. "Eric Spencer Macky (1880 – 1958)". California Art Research Archive. The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  7. Julius, Harry (1919). "E. Spencer Macky". In Smith, Sydney Ure; Stevens, Bertram; Jones, C. Lloyd (eds.). Art in Australia. 6. Anthony Horderon and Sons, Ltd. Sydney, Australia: Argus and Robertson, Limited. p. 39.
  8. Opitz, Glenn B., ed. (1986). Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers. Poughkeepsie, NY: Apollo. ISBN 978-0-938290-04-9.
  9. McClelland, Gordon T.; Last, Jay T. (2002). California Watercolors 1850-1970. Hillcrest Press, Inc. – via CalArt.com.
  10. Hailey, Gene; Schwartz, Ellen Halteman, eds. (1937). California Art Research (PDF). Series 1, W.P.A. Project 2874. Volume 15. San Francisco, California (published 1987). pp. 99–118. ISBN 0-910938-88-1. |volume= has extra text (help)
  11. Hailey, Gene; Schwartz, Ellen Halteman, eds. (1937). California Art Research (PDF). Series 1, W.P.A. Project 2874. Volume 15. San Francisco, California (published 1987). pp. 99–118. ISBN 0-910938-88-1. |volume= has extra text (help)
  12. Hailey, Gene; Schwartz, Ellen Halteman, eds. (1937). California Art Research (PDF). Series 1, W.P.A. Project 2874. Volume 15. San Francisco, California (published 1987). pp. 99–118. ISBN 0-910938-88-1. |volume= has extra text (help)
  13. "Donald Macky". Napa Valley Register. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  14. "Eric Spencer Macky". Musée d'Orsay: Notice d'Artiste. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  15. "Spencer Macky". Seattle Art Museum. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  16. "Lost Fresco From 1930 Uncovered at San Francisco Art Institute". 7x7 Bay Area. 2015-08-31. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  17. "Head of E. Spencer Macky". SFMOMA. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.