Eric Spencer Macky

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Eric Spencer Macky
2nd President of California College of Arts and Crafts
In office
1944–1954
Preceded byFrederick Meyer
Succeeded byDaniel S. Defenbacher
Personal details
Born(1880-11-16)November 16, 1880
Ponsonby, New Zealand
DiedMay 5, 1958(1958-05-05) (aged 77)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
SpouseConstance Lillian Jenkins (m. 1912–1958; death)
Children2
EducationElam Art School,
National Gallery of Victoria Art School,
Académie Julian
OccupationPainter, printmaker, educator, academic administrator
Other namesSpencer Macky,
E. Spencer Macky
Mother and Child (1916, cropped) by Eric Spencer Macky

Eric Spencer Macky, also known simply as Spencer Macky (1880–1958) was a New Zealand-born American painter, intaglio printmaker, academic administrator, and educator.[1][2] He was president of the California College of Arts and Crafts (now the California College of the Arts), from 1944 until 1954. He also founded the Spencer Macky Art School in San Francisco, from 1916 until 1917. He was also known for his landscape paintings and scenes of San Francisco.[3]

Biography[edit]

Eric Spencer Macky was born November 16, 1880, in Ponsonby[4] near Auckland, New Zealand.[5][6] He was interested in art at a young age and by age 14, he was attending the Elam Art School on a scholarship and studied under C. F. Goldie.[7][3][5] From 1903 to 1906, Macky attended National Gallery of Victoria Art School (formally National Gallery School of Painting) studying under Lindsay Bernard Hall;[6] and continued studies in 1907 at Académie Julian in Paris under Jean-Paul Laurens.[1]

Macky arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area between 1910 and 1912.[1][6][2] He taught at California School of Arts and Crafts (now known as California College of the Arts) from 1913 to 1921; University of California, Berkeley; and he was the Dean of California School of Fine Arts (now known as San Francisco Art Institute) from 1919 until 1935.[1] He had notable students including Robert Boardman Howard,[8] George Post,[9] and John Melville Kelly.

In 1944, Spencer Macky was appointed President of California College of Arts and Crafts when the college's founder Frederick Meyer retired. Macky held this position for a decade, until 1954.[10]

Eric Spencer Macky and his spouse Constance founded in 1916, the Spencer Macky Art School in San Francisco.[11] The first location of the school was at Post Street, near Gough Street in a building that housed many other notable artists including Leo Lentelli, Clark Hobart, William Claussen, Louise Mahoney, Florence Lundberg, Sigmund Beel, and George Hyde.[12] The school was popular and moved to a larger space at the "Artists Building" at 535 Sacramento Street in San Francisco.[12] By 1917, the Spencer Macky Art School was merged with the California School of Fine Arts (CSFA; now known as the San Francisco Art Institute).[12]

Macky was married to Constance Lillian Jenkins in 1912 in Berkeley, California.[13] They had two sons, their son, Donald Spencer Macky (1913–2007) was an artist.[14][13]

Death and legacy[edit]

Macky died on May 5, 1958, in San Francisco.[6] Macky's work is included in public museum collections, including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,[1] Musée d'Orsay,[15] Seattle Art Museum,[16] and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.[4]

In fall 2013, three lost murals were discovered on the campus of San Francisco Art Institute, including Spencer Mackey’s Life Drawing Class (1936) by Eleanor Bates Streloff.[17] Artist Ruth Cravath carved a bust of Macky in 1935, which is now part of the collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.[18]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Eric Spencer Macky". FAMSF Search the Collections. 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  2. ^ a b "Reminiscences of Eric Spencer and Constance Macky : oral history transcript / and related material, 1954-1957". Online Archive of California (OAC). 1954. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  3. ^ a b "Eric Spencer Macky - Biography". AskArt.com. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  4. ^ a b "Eric Macky". Auckland Art Gallery. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  5. ^ a b Hughes, Edan Milton (1989). Artists in California, 1786-1940. Hughes Publishing Company. ISBN 9780961611217.
  6. ^ a b c d "Eric Spencer Macky (1880 – 1958)". California Art Research Archive. The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  7. ^ Julius, Harry (1919). "E. Spencer Macky". In Smith, Sydney Ure; Stevens, Bertram; Jones, C. Lloyd (eds.). Art in Australia. Vol. 6. Anthony Horderon and Sons, Ltd. Sydney, Australia: Argus and Robertson, Limited. p. 39.
  8. ^ Opitz, Glenn B., ed. (1986). Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers. Poughkeepsie, NY: Apollo. ISBN 978-0-938290-04-9.
  9. ^ McClelland, Gordon T.; Last, Jay T. (2002). California Watercolors 1850-1970. Hillcrest Press, Inc. – via CalArt.com.
  10. ^ CCAC the Art College in the Community. the Press of the California College of Arts and Crafts. pp. 16–17. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  11. ^ Hailey, Gene; Schwartz, Ellen Halteman, eds. (1937). California Art Research (PDF). Series 1, W.P.A. Project 2874. Vol. 15. San Francisco, California (published 1987). pp. 99–118. ISBN 0-910938-88-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ^ a b c Hailey, Gene; Schwartz, Ellen Halteman, eds. (1937). California Art Research (PDF). Series 1, W.P.A. Project 2874. Vol. 15. San Francisco, California (published 1987). pp. 99–118. ISBN 0-910938-88-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ a b Hailey, Gene; Schwartz, Ellen Halteman, eds. (1937). California Art Research (PDF). Series 1, W.P.A. Project 2874. Vol. 15. San Francisco, California (published 1987). pp. 99–118. ISBN 0-910938-88-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  14. ^ "Donald Macky". Napa Valley Register. 15 December 2007. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  15. ^ "Eric Spencer Macky". Musée d'Orsay: Notice d'Artiste. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  16. ^ "Spencer Macky". Seattle Art Museum. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  17. ^ "Lost Fresco From 1930 Uncovered at San Francisco Art Institute". 7x7 Bay Area. 2015-08-31. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  18. ^ "Head of E. Spencer Macky". SFMOMA. Retrieved 2021-07-25.

External links[edit]

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