Rackstraw Downes Art for Sale at Auction

Painter, b. 1939 -

(b Pembury, Kent, England,1939) British-American Painter. Rackstraw Downes first gained notoriety as an art critic before devoting his career to teaching and painting. He received his BA in 1961 from Cambridge University in English Literature. In 1964 he was awarded a BFA and MFA from Yale University. While attending Yale, his painting style was abstract, but, after visiting the Whitney Annual, Downes decided to focus his efforts on creating paintings of spaces that go unnoticed. He is best known for working en plein air to create panoramic landscapes, often of urben areas; these are rendered in crisp, clear colors and prescise detail. Downes currently lives and works in New York.