Robert MacDonald Graham

Robert MacDonald Graham was an artist who dedicated himself to recording beauty in the world around him. He spent his life traveling the country to paint natural and historical sites while training younger generations at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.

Robert MacDonald Graham was born November 1, 1919, in New Rochelle, New York. Because his father was a cavalry officer, he spent his childhood on remote military bases. At age sixteen, Graham left home to study at the Kansas City Art Institute. He was immediately taken in by Thomas Hart Benton. Benton selected five of his works for his 1940 exhibition of his students' work Kansas City Regional Art, held at the Associated American Artists Gallery in New York. The gallery bought Graham's painting Peaceful Evening, and New York critics praised his skill in rendering light.

After graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1941, Robert MacDonald Graham enlisted in the Air Corps and served as a combat artist during World War II. He later enrolled at the Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten in Belgium, where he studied with painter Jules van Vlasselaer. Upon returning to the United States, Graham taught at the University of Texas, Austin, then returned to Kansas City to teach at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, in 1958.

For many years, Robert MacDonald Graham was heavily associated with Thomas Hart Benton and his style of regionalist painting. Graham's paintings from the 1940s and 1950s show Benton's influence in their twisting compositions, clearly outlined forms, and simple rural scenes. Graham's series of paintings titled Missouri Historic Heritage Site Works demonstrate his mature artistic voice. They document historical sites from around the state, including the Capitol in Jefferson City, the Churchill Church in Fulton, and the Watkins Mill in Lawson. Unlike Benton's bold, illustrative compositions, these paintings prioritized atmospheric interactions of light and color. Yet Graham retained Benton's focus on the everyday, reflecting regional history through layers of carefully recorded detail.

Robert MacDonald Graham continued to actively exhibit his work after retiring in 1975. He was elected to the National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic in 1983, receiving a total of four awards for his accomplishments. He created several series documenting natural and historical sites, including the Thomas Woolf Memorial Home, the Truman Memorial Home, and Missouri's natural springs. Graham continued to paint at his residence in Kansas City until his death in 2000.