Kevin MacDonald

Kevin MacDonald was one of the most popular and acclaimed artists in the Washington, DC, area. Over his 30-year career, his work was presented in more than 30 solo exhibitions. In 2016, the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center hosted a major exhibition and published a color catalog covering the range of his work in different styles and media.

While often described as “nominally realist,” MacDonald’s output was stylistically varied. Subject matter includes landscape and still life, unpeopled interiors, and many views adapted from settings in DC and Silver Spring, MD, where the artist lived and worked. His methods included the quietest “whispers” of graphite and color pencil on paper, masterful wielding of oil paints, bright application of chalk pastels, and in his final show, a variety of media including watercolor, ink, rust, coffee and tea.

MacDonald’s work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and scores of private collections.