Born in Savannah, Georgia in 1955, WEST FRASER can trace his roots back to Dorchester, S.C. starting in 1695. 

A true son of the lowcountry, Mr. Fraser spent his formative years wandering the fields, marshes, 

and forests of both the Georgia and South Carolina coasts.

He came of age on Hilton Head Island where his love of the coastal environs developed. This appreciation of the world around him and especially the South Carolina coast still provides inspiration. One of the leading American artists in the representational tradition, he has built his career on richly painted, atmospheric vistas of cities, coasts, and the landscape throughout the United States and internationally—from the pristine Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia, to the hill towns of Tuscany and more recently the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. An inveterate traveler, he has painted throughout the Caribbean, Central America, Europe and Scandinavia. Yet his passion always draws him back to the marshes and landscape of his beloved Georgia and South Carolina Coast. West Fraser has been honored with 9 solo museum exhibitions in the Midwest, the Southeast, and California.

His most recent museum exhibition was at the Gibbes Museum, Charleston, S.C., in 2017, ‘Painting the Southern Coast: The Art of West Fraser’ which was loosely based on the 2016 book of the same name.

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Biography

West Fraser

West Fraser was born in Savannah, GA in 1955. He is a true “Son of The Low Country”, with deep roots dating back to 1695 in Dorchester SC, to coastal Georgia’s colonial plantation history. He came of age on Hilton Head Island where he developed his love of the coastal environs that still today provides inspiration. One of the leading American artists in the representational tradition, he has built his career on richly painted, atmospheric vistas of cities, coasts, and the landscape throughout the United States and internationally—from the pristine Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia, to the hill towns of Tuscany. An inveterate traveler, he has painted throughout the Caribbean, Central America, Europe and Scandinavia. Yet his passion always draws him back to the marshes and landscape of his beloved Georgia and South Carolina Coast.

Mr. Fraser is a past Commissioner of the South Carolina Art’s Commission, an elected member of the prestigious Salmagundi Club,  a Signature member of PAPA (Plein Air Painters of America) and an artist member of the California Art Club. He garnered his first award in 1984, The John Young Hunter Award from Allied Artists of America in NYC. 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, NM & recently the Edgar Payne Gold Medal from the CA Art Club’s 100th Gold Medal Exhibition, CA. Fraser’s work hangs in permanent collections of 9 museums across the United States and Bermuda and is in the permanent collection at The White House Historical Association.

West Fraser has been honored with 9 solo museum exhibitions in the Midwest, the Southeast, and California. His most recent museum exhibition was at the Gibbes Museum, Charleston, S.C., in 2017, ‘Painting the Southern Coast: The Art of West Fraser’ which is loosely based on the 2016 book of the same name. His paintings have also been included in many jurried museum exhibitions nationwide. During the past 35 years, Fraser has been published extensively, including extensive features in Art and Antique, Plein Air Magazine, The Robb Report, Charleston Magazine, Sandlapper Magazine, SC Wildlife Magazine, Southern Living, Southern Accents, American Artist, Nautical Quarterly, Southwest Art, US Air Ways and American Art Collector to name a few. As well, exhibition catalogs and books exists of his work The Color of Light, 1995 Springfield Museum of Art, OH and A Native Son, 2012 Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, GA. In 2000, he represented South Carolina in the bicentennial celebration calendar published by the White House Historic Association. In 2001, the University of South Carolina Press published the monograph ‘Charleston in My Time: The Paintings of West Fraser’, which was accompanied by a traveling exhibition to Southeastern museums, and in 2016 they published ‘Painting the Southern Coast: The Art of West Fraser,’ which was followed with a solo exhibit at the Gibbes Museum in Charleston. In 2006, Fraser painted the official portrait of SC Governor Mark Sanford. Mr. Fraser currently lives in Mt. Pleasant, SC with his wife Helena Fox.

“…West Fraser paints with light—the radiance of early morning, the glare of high noon, the glow of day’s end and the mystery of moonlight—to create brilliant works of color and form. He takes what we see everyday, something that seems ordinary, and makes it worthy of fine art.”

Exhibitions

One-Man Museum Exhibitions

January – April 2017    The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, S.C.

February – May 2012 – Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Ga. – A Native Son: Paintings by West Fraser

March – May 2011 – Spartanburg Museum of Arts, Spartanburg, S.C. – West Fraser: A Southern Perspective

April – June 2007 – Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, Ca. – As I See it, Paintings by West Fraser

April – June 2002 – Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, S.C. – Paintings of West Fraser, Charleston in My Time

June – Sept. 2002 – Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, S.C. – Charleston in My Time, Paintings of West Fraser

October 2002 – Jan. 2003 – Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Ga. – Charleston in My Time, Paintings of West Fraser

September – October 1995 – Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, Ohio – The Color of Light, Painting of West Fraser

November 1986 – January 1987 – Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, S.C. – Coastal Watercolors by West Fraser

 

Group Museum Exhibitions

Art in the Embassies Program – Ottawa, Canada & Tanzania

Bakersfield Museum of Art – Bakersfield, Ca.

Booth Western Art Museum – Cartersville, Ga.

Clinton Library – Little Rock, Arkanas

Cape Cod Museum of Art – Cape Cod, Mass.

George H. Bush Library – College Station, Texas

Gerald R. Ford Museum – Grand Rapids, Mich.

Gibbes Museum of Art – Charleston, S.C.

Greenville County Museum of Art – Greenville, S.C.

Haggin Museum – Stockton, Ca.

The Hubbard Museum of the American West – Ruidoso Downs, N.M.

Huntsville Museum of Art – Huntsville, Alabama

The Irvine Museum of Art – Irvine, Ca.

The Johnson Library – Austin, Texas

Laguna Art Museum – Laguna, Ca.

Mariner’s Museum – Newport News, Va.

Masterworks Museum Collection – Hamilton Bermuda

Michele & Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Art – Springfield, Mass.

Minnesota Maritime Museum – Alexandria, M.N.

Morris Museum of Art – Augusta, Ga.

Museum of the Southwest – Midland, Texas

Mystic Seaport – Mystic, Conn.

The Nixon Library – Yorba Linda, Ca.

The Ottawa Art Gallery – Ottawa, Canada

Pasadena Museum of California Art – Pasadena, Ca.

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center – Speigel Grove, Fairmont, Ca.

Salmagundi Club – New York City, N.Y.

South Carolina State Museum – Columbia, S.C.

Springfield Museum of Art – Springfield, Ohio

Washakie Museum – Worland, Wy.

White House Historical Association – Washington, D.C.

Wisconsin Maritime Museum – Manitowoc, Wiss.

Select Press

Palmetto Magazine

The Light of a Southern Son
written by Susan Frampton with photographs by Dottie Rizzo
Palmetto Magazine Fall/Winter 2018

VIEW

Island Scene

Island Scene
West Fraser: Artist in the Scene
Summer 1992
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Legends Magazine of Kiawah

Beaux Artes
1990
VIEW

Walter Edgar’s Journal

Painting the Southern Coast
April 2017
VIEW

South Carolina Wildlife

Daws Island: Rich in History, Rich in Art
January/February 2002
VIEW

Southwest Art

A Broader Field View
November 2019
VIEW

Fine Art Connoisseur

West Fraser
February 2017
VIEW

Carolina Arts

West Fraser
February 2017
VIEW

Garden & Gun Magazine

Garden & Gun Magazine
West Fraser
June/July 2016
VIEW

Charleston Magazine

West Fraser
May 2016
VIEW

Post & Courier

West Fraser
August 21, 2016
VIEW

Hemispheres

Artist Profile
1998
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Art Mag

West Fraser
Fall 2016
VIEW

American Society of Marine Artists

American Society of Marine Artists
New Member Spotlight
2009
VIEW

Art & Antiques

Points of View
May 2005
VIEW

Videos
Reproductions

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