William Alister Macdonald: Watercolours from Thurso, the Thames, and Tahiti – Iain Macdonald
The life of Scottish watercolourist William Alister Macdonald (1861-1956) contained more mystery and intrigue than many of the novels written by the authors who became his friends. During the early decades of the twentieth century he travelled extensively, painting across Britain, Europe and North Africa, creating a remarkable visual record of places, people and landscapes in a period of profound change.
Macdonald’s significance extends beyond his artistic achievement. His celebrated series of more than 120 watercolours depicting London streets, riverside industries, historic buildings and lost Thames panoramas provides an invaluable record of the urban environment at the turn of the twentieth century. Now held within the Wakefield Collection at London’s Guildhall, these works capture aspects of architectural and social history that have long since disappeared.
At the age of sixty, Macdonald left Britain to settle in Tahiti, where he befriended writers Charles Nordhoff, James Norman Hall and Zane Grey. There he produced the luminous landscapes and studies of Polynesia for which he remains highly regarded today.
This first fully illustrated biography traces Macdonald’s extraordinary life and artistic journey, bringing together his Scottish roots, his evocative studies of historic cities and built environments, and his celebrated paintings of the South Pacific. Richly illustrated throughout, it offers a fresh appraisal of an artist whose work holds enduring interest for lovers of architecture, urban history, landscape and travel.
Dr Iain Macdonald is Associate Professor in the Department of Design Innovation, Maynooth University, Ireland. Born in Edinburgh and graduating from Edinburgh College of Art, he began his career at BBC Television Centre as a motion graphic designer and was a Senior Designer nominated for a BAFTA before becoming a commercials director at the Moving Picture Company. Since 2010 he has been a Design academic achieving a Doctorate while working at Edinburgh Napier University. His research and publications cover motion graphics, co-design and public health communication.
Author: Iain Macdonald
Publisher: Unicorn
Format: Hardback
Pages: 160
ISBN: 9781916846241
Publication date: November 2024