For many years he continued to work on, predominantly drawings, which were driven by relentlessly logical compositional strategies along with painstakingly time consuming modes of execution. Throughout these years he worked his way through many different mediums, some rather unconventional. Whether pencil, crayons, rubber stamps, shoe polish, ink, paint among others, all were intrinsic to what the image would end up looking like. Increasingly, the artist came to realize he could stop chasing deKooning’s gestural line and would work to develop his own “McNown line”.
As an undergraduate at the University of Kansas in the late 1960s, there were two major influences running through the painting department: from the West Coast there was the painterly figuration of Richard Diebenkorn, and from the East Coast the powerful presence of Willem deKooning. While McNown made a brief attempt at the deKooning-type gestural painting he soon realized that kind of expression did not feel right to him.
After graduating with his BFA in 1968, McNown moved to Seattle in the early 1970s and was almost immediately being exhibited in several of contemporary galleries. He moved to New York after graduating with his MFA from the University of Washington and returned to Seattle a few years later. In 1992 he was given the first of ten solo shows – 1992-2012 – with the prestigious Francine Seders Gallery, which also represented Jacob Lawrence and Northwest artists, Mark Tobey, Guy Anderson, and Fay Jones.
Shortly after Ms. Seders retired in 2013 and closed her gallery, McNown returned to Lawrence, KS where he continues to live and paint. Now in his mid-seventies, the artist continues to push himself to discover new modalities of abstraction, pattern and color.
Frederick Holmes And Company is now proud to be his gallery representative today in in the Pacific Northwest.
1944, Iowa City, IA
1972, M.F.A., University of Washington, Seattle, WA
1968, B.F.A, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
-
One Note Shuffle
$4,900.00 Add to cart -
Zoot Suit Riot
$5,500.00 Add to cart -
Hidden Charms
$5,500.00 Add to cart -
Zippy Zam
$5,500.00 Add to cart -
Hattiesberg Hustle
$4,900.00 Add to cart -
Alley Strut
$3,800.00 Add to cart -
Love Bones
$3,800.00 Add to cart -
Soul Stew
$4,200.00 Add to cart -
Capri Crash
$3,800.00 Add to cart -
Friars Point
$3,800.00 Add to cart -
Swamp Sauce
$3,500.00 Add to cart
- 2020 Three Person Show: Frederick Holmes and Company, Seattle, WA
- 1994 Large Works by Four Artists: Philip Govedare, Robert C. Jones,
- 1993 Robert McNown, Paul Swenson, Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle WA
- 1992 New Artists to the Gallery, Summer Show, Francine Seders Gallery II, Seattle, WA
- 1988 Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle, WA (also 1983-1987)
- 1980 Erica Williams/Anne Johnson Gallery, Seattle, WA
- 1977 Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA (also 1975)
- 1976 And/Or Gallery, Seattle, WA
- 1973 Art Resources Center, New York, NY
- 1972 Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
- 1971 Seattle Children’s Home, Seattle, WA
- 1968 Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS
- 2018 Recent Paintings, Cider Gallery, Lawrence, KS
2015 New Drawings, Cider Gallery, Lawrence, KS - 2012 New Drawings, Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle WA
- 2011 New Work, Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle WA
- 2008 Uncommon Sense, Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle WA
- 2006 Ink on Paper, Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle WA
- 2004 Ink on Paper, Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle, WA (February)
- 2003 Fine Arts Gallery, Pierce College, Lakewood, WA
- 2002 Black and Blues—A to Z, Upstairs Gallery, Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle, WA
- 2000 Pencil on Paper, Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle WA
- 1999 Dr. John’s Puzzles, Upstairs Gallery, Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle WA
- 1998 Art Department Gallery, Pierce College, Tacoma, WA
- 1997 Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle WA (also 1993)
- 1995 Upstairs Gallery, Francine Seders Gallery, Seattle WA (also 1992)
- 1989 Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle, WA
- 1981 O.S. Gallery, Seattle, WA
