Keith McDaniel
- Born
- Newark, New Jersey, United States
- Active in
- Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Biography
A longtime resident of Boston, McDaniel painted compositions based on the city's diverse architectural styles. Concerned with both interior and exterior space, McDaniel sought out unusual structures—a fortress on an island in Boston harbor, wharf buildings 0n Nantucket Island— finding a unique harmony in their aging architectural forms. Typically unpopulated, McDaniel's landscapes retain strong geometric overtones. By simplifying lighting patterns and stressing asymmetry in both structure and viewpoint, McDaniel imbued his scenes with an air of mystery and implicit narrative.
Virginia M. Mecklenburg Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press for the National Museum of American Art, 1987)
- Luce Artist Biography
Keith McDaniel studied at the Tylor School of Art in Pennsylvania, then worked as a weaver for a couple of years on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. In 1973 he moved to Boston and established a studio. He created many paintings of the buildings there and on Nantucket, emphasizing what he described as the "great energy" of these solid, imposing structures.