Andrew Macara (b. 1944)

               Andrew Macara’s art manages to successfully strike a masterful balance: in subject matter between nostalgia and spontaneity, and stylistically between the figurative and abstract. Macara briefly studied fine art with Leonard Fuller in St. Ives School of Painting, but is largely considered to be self-taught. Since the age of twelve Macara copied works by artists such as Rembrandt, seeking to understand the techniques of the Old Masters. This early dedication to understanding technique and medium served him well as he gradually established himself as an oil painter in his twenties. His mastery of the medium has been widely appreciated amongst collectors and critics. He was elected a member of New English Art Club in 1984, in recognition of his abilities first and foremost as a painter, as demonstrated through works such as A Day At The Beach (right), from 1982.

Macara’s practice combines plein-air study with studio painting. Light and shadow, and their appearance through colour is a unifying concern throughout much of his work. It is through this preoccupation with the play of light and shadow over natural forms and environments that the viewer may glimpse the inspiration from the likes of Rembrandt, or perhaps more significantly French art from the nineteenth-century. His figures often occupy a liminal space between fore and back -ground, at certain points appearing to melt into the atmospheric effects of early morning or late afternoon light and shade, in a manner that recalls landscapes by Georges Seurat and Camille Pissarro, particular the latter’s snow-scenes from the 1870’s onwards.

Macara has enjoyed a successful career, exhibiting widely at prestigious venues including the Paris Salon, the Royal Society of British Artists (R.B.A.)and the New English Art Club. He has been awarded several high profile commissions and prizes (New Parliamentary Building in Westminster, Hilton Hotel Group headquarters and the 1985 De Laszlo Medal at the R.B.A.). His works have been popular amongst collectors for many years, particularly his snow and beach scenes, which strike a chord with audiences and provide Macara ample opportunity to demonstrate his sensitivity for colour, light and shade. He has travelled internationally in search of new subjects, but remains rooted in his native Derbyshire where he continues to paint today.