59

RACKSTRAW DOWNES

English, b. 1939

"Portland Water District Wastewater Treatment Plant", 1984

oil on canvas
initialed lower right "RD"
10 1/4 x 44 in. (26 x 111.8 cm.)

  • Provenance: Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, New York; OK Harris Gallery, New York, New York; Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York; Christie's East, New York, New York, November 19, 1996, lot 68; Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, New York; Private Collection, West Virginia, since 1998
  • Literature: Sanford Schwartz and Robert Storr, "Rackstraw Downes" (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2005), p. 87, illustration no. 47.
  • Notes: This work is sold unframed.

    Rackstraw Downes, a British-born, American artist is a painter of his surroundings. Working in plein air locations across the United States, Downes captures diverse landscapes with photo-realist precision, without the use of a camera. His wide, panoramic landscapes feature bending horizons that intend to mimic the way the eye naturally perceives. Downes' landscapes are often industrial subjects such as the present work, "Portland Water District Wastewater Treatment Plant". Opened in 1979, the water treatment plant is the largest in Maine processing four million tons of waste water each year. Downes was fascinated by the geodesic dome over the water treatment plant. Many of his paintings include an environmentalist angle and prior to the construction of the plant the water flowing into the Casco Bay was heavily polluted. The painting urges the viewer to consider several angles, the beauty of industry and the built environment as well as our human effects on the natural environment both harmful and helpful. Downes was educated at Cambridge University and received his MFA from Yale University in 1964. As a student, he was encouraged by Alex Katz, Neil Welliver, and Al Held. His classmates included artists Richard Serra and Jack Claes. Although he trained predominantly as an abstract artist, Downes' developed his own style of hyperrealism. Downes was awarded a prestigious John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2009. He was also featured in PBS's critically acclaimed series Art 21. Downes' works are included in numerous private collections and museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., and the Art Institute of Chicago.
  • Condition: in excellent original condition; unlined canvas; no restoration visible under UV

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