A Norman Port »

James McBey

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About The Artwork

"Boulogne, France and its harbor from the Falaises. In front, a hgh round hummock (the remains of the Roman lighthouse and beyond it, the fisherman's chapel with its crucifix. The harbor, with boats entering, is low on the right." from the catalogue raisonne of the artist's etchings

About The Artist

Born in Newburgh near Aberdeen, at the age of 15 James McBey attended evening classes at Gray's School of Art and taught himself etching, building his own press. At an early age he moved to London to prepare for a one man show at Goupil's which was a great success. It was right after his show at Groupil's that McBey traveled to Morocco with James Kerr Lawson, beginning a long association with North Africa.In 1916 McBey enlisted in the military and his pictures of Somme led to his appointment as an Official War Artist. In 1917 he was sent to Egypt and during an intensely active two years he produced some 300 watercolors of the campaign in Egypt and Palestine.In 1929 he visited America, returning in 1930 when he married Marguerite Loeb from Philadelphia. He introduced his wife to Morocco in 1932 and they bought a house near Tangier, later buying a second property in Marrakesh. McBey felt at home in North Africa and many of his best works were executed there. During the Second World War the McBeys lived in America, and despite immigration problems he was able to work, but in 1946 they returned to Tangier where McBey continued to work, with regular trips to America and Britain, until his death in 1959.McBey's etchings are varied in subject and treatment, but all reveal his excellent and sensitive draughtsmanship, and his sense of light. His watercolors, pastels and oils convey a very personal impressionistic style. Apart from the North African desert, he was particularly good at depicting water scenes and cities like Venice and Rotterdam.In 1936, James McBey exhibited at the Dallas Museum of Art at the Dallas Art Exposition. He was one of a group of important modern painters of the time.Museums:Victoria & Albert Museum, LondonListed:E. Benezit, Dictionary of Artists vol. VII, pp. 37-38, Index of Artists, Mallett, p. 283, Dictionary of Scottish Painters 1600-1960, by Paul Harris & Julian Halsby, pp. 124-125, Scottish Art 1460-1990, Duncan MacmullanThe above information was lifted word for word from AskArt.com, originally submitted by the Roughton Gallery in Dallas, Texas.

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