William McKim
'Bighorn' — 1940s American Regionalism
1940

About the Item

William Wind McKim, 'Bighorn', lithograph, 1940, edition c. 25. Signed and titled in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, the full sheet with margins (2 to 4 1/4 inches). A crease across the top right sheet corner, well away from the image, otherwise in very very good condition. Archivally matted to museum standards. Image size 11 13/16 x 8 11/16 inches; sheet size 19 7/8 x 13 inches. ABOUT THE ARTIST William Wind McKim (1916-1995) was born in Independence, Missouri, and enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1934, where he studied with Thomas Hart Benton, Wallace Rosenbauer, and John De Martelly. He was awarded several scholarships during his undergraduate days and exhibited his work nationwide. He gained early acclaim when his work was included in the New York World's Fair Exhibit of Contemporary Art in 1939 when he was only twenty-three years old; he received a listing in Who’s Who in American Art that same year. He finished his undergraduate degree in painting at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1940. McKim served in the U.S. Army during World War II and taught visual communication in the Signal Corps. He traveled extensively in the Army, primarily in the South Pacific, earning the rank of second lieutenant. He returned to Kansas City after the war to resume his artistic career. McKim devoted himself to creating naturalistic drawings and lithographs of animals and nature, even becoming an apprentice to an expert taxidermist to deepen his understanding of animal anatomy. He stated in a 1963 article in the Kansas City Star that his “reason for wanting to draw was to capture the form and spirit of outdoor subjects.” McKim was invited to join the staff at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1945, where he taught until his retirement in 1986. He revitalized the lithography department at the college and authored a manual on lithographic printmaking, 'Printing from Stone', and wrote several articles in the Kansas City Star on lithography. McKim juried both art exhibitions as well as field trials for dogs. His own dogs competed and won awards in bird dog and field trial competitions throughout the 1950s and 1960s. McKim exhibited widely, including at the Missouri Pavilion at the New York World's Fair in 1964 and in many solo exhibitions at regional galleries. He designed the background for the Missouri mammals exhibit at the Kansas City Museum and spent time sketching in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada; the eastern United States; and Mexico and Europe. McKim also contributed illustrations to American Field, the official magazine of the bird dog world, and served as president of the Heart of America Field Trial Association. McKim’s work is held in the collections of the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, the American Museum & Gardens (UK), and the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

Creator:

William McKim (1916 - 1995, American)

Creation Year:

1940

Dimensions:

Height: 11.82 in (30.03 cm)Width: 8.69 in (22.08 cm)

Medium:

Lithograph

Movement & Style:

American Realist

Period:

1940-1949