Alexander MacKenzie (English, 1923-2002)

Biography

Alexander MacKenzie was a celebrated abstract artist, part of the St Ives artist community and a member of the Newlyn and Penwith Societies of Art.

MacKenzie was born and raised in Liverpool. During World War II, his school was evacuated to Newburgh Priory in North Yorkshire, an experience that cultivated his lasting appreciation for history, archaeology, and the natural world. From 1941 to 1946, MacKenzie served with the Inns of Court Regiment in Europe. Upon his return to the UK, he enrolled at the Liverpool College of Art.

Following his studies, MacKenzie accepted a teaching position at the Luskudjak school in 1951, which led to his entry into the Cornish artistic community. He frequently visited Ben Nicholson at Trezion and became close friends with John Wells and many other artists. Much of MacKenzie’s work is based on the landscape, an interest in nature and its history that began during his evacuation to North Yorkshire and continued in the rugged beauty of Cornwall. His work from the 1950s shares similarities with the early landscape abstractions of Peter Lanyon but possesses a rigour and tone reminiscent of Ben Nicholson. MacKenzie’s work was recognised as important and exhibited at prestigious galleries, including the Redfern Gallery and Waddington Galleries in London, and the Durlacher Gallery in New York.

From 1964 to 1984, he was the head of Fine Art at Plymouth Art College. Upon retiring from teaching, MacKenzie returned to Cornwall, where he focused on painting, a pursuit he much preferred to the business side of being an artist.

MacKenzie’s work is held in many public and private collection including the Arts Council Collection, Pallant House Gallery, Jerwood Collection, York Art Gallery, and Falmouth Art Gallery.