West Fraser


James West Fraser is an American artist known for his representational [en plein air|En Plein Air] paintings. His work frequently depicts vistas of cities, coasts, and landscapes.

Biography

Early life

West Fraser was born in Georgia to Joseph Bacon Fraser Jr. and Carolyn Bexley. Fraser attended the Savannah Country Day School, and was raised in nearby Hinesville until 1964, when his family moved to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1979. The following year in Savannah, he worked independently as an illustrator and began his first serious painting in watercolors. In the early 80's he lived in Buck's County, Pennsylvania, and began traveling up and down the New England coast to paint maritime subjects and harbor scenes. After several years up north, he returned to 'his country' and settled in Charleston, South Carolina and continued his work in watercolor through the late 1980s. The realistic, detailed marine compositions from this period resulted in early critical recognition, with a 1984 one-man show at the Grand Central Art Galleries in New York City, and his first one-man exhibition at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston in 1986 through early 1987.

Career

West Fraser is known for his oil paintings, particularly his En Plein Air style, which emphasizes the depiction of light, color, and atmosphere in landscapes, cityscapes, and marine scenes. Prior to 1986, he had developed a looser watercolor style. Beginning in 1989, he focused on this style, exploring subjects ranging from urban views to natural landscapes. In 1990, Fraser shifted to representational/En Plein Air painting in oil, specializing in coastal landscapes, streetscapes and travel paintings. His work has been featured in publications such as Art & Antiques, The Robb Report, Southern Accents, American Artist, Nautical Quarterly, Southwest Art, Hemispheres, and The Bluff Magazine. In 2000, he represented South Carolina in the bicentennial celebration calendar published by the White House Historical Association. In 2001, the University of South Carolina Press published the monograph Charleston in My Time: The Paintings of West Fraser. In 2006, Fraser painted the official portrait of SC Governor Mark Sanford.

Honors and awards

Fraser was a Commissioner of the South Carolina Art's Commission from 2003 to 2012, he is an elected member of the Salmagundi Club, an elected Fellow of the American Society of Marine Artists, a Signature member of Plein Air Painters of America, and a member of the California Art Club.
He garnered his first award in 1984, The John Young Hunter Award from Allied Artists of America. Since then he has been honored with the Award of Excellence from Mystic International, The Mary S. Litt Award from the American Watercolor Society, the Pursuit of Excellence/American Master award from the Hubbard Museum of Art, and the Edgar Payne Gold Medal Award for Best Landscape from the California Art Club's 100th Juries Gold Medal Exhibition, among many others.
Fraser hangs in permanent collections in 9 museums across the United States and Bermuda, and at the White House Historical Association. His audiences include museums, art associations, resorts, the Heritage annual PGA Tour winner, yacht clubs, historical societies, health institutions, corporate and private collections, and educational institutions.

Permanent museum collections

Daniel West Fraser Scholarship Fund

Fraser, with his family and friends, established the Daniel West Fraser Scholarship Fund through the Gibbes Museum of Art to honor the memory of his eldest son Daniel. The fund serves to fulfill the Gibbes’ commitment to provide scholarship funding for art camps and classes to deserving, talented students from area schools who are recommended by their teachers.

The Joseph Bacon and Carolyn Bexley Fraser Sustainable Seafood Harvest Fund

West Fraser partnered with the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry to established a fund for conservation, research, and to support sustainable seafood harvests around Beaufort County into the future. The mission of The Joseph Bacon and Carolyn Bexley Fraser Sustainable Seafood Harvest Fund, established in the name of Fraser's mother and father, is to provide support for conservation programs and efforts which are focused on maintaining the Port Royal Basin, the Calibogue Sound Basin, and the surrounding areas, as a healthy ecosystems and viable estuaries for a sustainable seafood harvest today and into the future.“ Proceeds from prints of Bluffton Oyster Factory Shuckers go towards the fund.