Alexander MacKenzie (English, 1923-2002)

Alexander MacKenzie was a renowned abstract artist associated with St Ives and a member of the Newlyn and Penwith Societies of Art. MacKenzie was born and grew up in Liverpool. A wartime evacuation of his school to Newburgh Priory in north Yorkshire gave the young man a greater appreciation for history, the natural world and the history of art. From 1941 to 1946, MacKenzie served with the Inns of Court Regiment in Europe. Upon his return to the UK, he enrolled to study fine art at the Liverpool College of Art.

Following his studies, Alexander MacKenzie accepted a teaching position at the Luskudjak school in 1951 and entered the Cornish artistic community. He often visited Ben Nicholson at Trezion and became close with John Wells and many others. MacKenzie exhibited at the Redfern Gallery, Waddington Galleries in London and at Durlacher Gallery in New York. For 20 years from 1964 to 1984, he was the head of Fine Art at Plymouth Art College. Upon his retirement from teaching, MacKenzie returned to Cornwall and continued painting, a pursuit he much preferred to the business side of being an artist.