Tony Foster (artist)

{{Infobox artist

| name = Tony Foster

| image = Tony at work above Gokyo (17,500').jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Tony Foster painting Mount Everest, 2005

| birth_name = Richard Anthony Foster

| birth_date = {{birth date|1946|04|02|df=y}}

| birth_place = New York, Lincolnshire, England

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = British

| spouse = Ann (Partington) Foster

| known_for = Artist-explorer, Landscape art Watercolor painting

| awards = 1994 Elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society,

2002 Cherry Kearton Medal and Award

| elected =

| patrons =

| website = {{URL|tony-foster.co.uk}}

| module =

}}

Richard Anthony Foster (born 2 April 1946), known as Tony Foster, is a British artist-explorer and environmentalist who documents wilderness landscapes worldwide through his large-scale artworks created on-site. The artworks are watercolour and graphite on paper and include diary excerpts, collected souvenirs, maps, and talismans. Since 1982, Foster has completed nineteen thematically related watercolour diaries or Journeys.

Early life

Tony Foster was born in New York, Lincolnshire, England, in 1946. He trained as an art teacher and taught for seven years before serving as a Regional Arts Officer for the South West Arts Council of Great Britain. He is a self-taught artist, initially working in mixed media and silkscreen as a pop artist.{{cite news |last=Nonnenberg |first=Sheryl |date=10 March 2016 |title=Watercolor Wilderness |work=Palo Alto Weekly |location=Palo Alto, CA |publisher=Bill Johnson |url=https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2016/03/10/watercolor-wilderness}} Inspired by the methodology of J. M. W. Turner,{{cite news |last=Granberry|first=Michael|date=31 January 2009 |title=From the edge of the world |work=The Dallas Morning News |location=Dallas, TX |publisher=Grant Moise }} and Foster's interest and passion for wildernesses and painting en plein air, he chose to focus on his own narrative observations, making art a full-time occupation at age 35.{{cite magazine |last=Reynolds |first=Jane |date=1 June 2008 |title=Tony Foster Scaling New Heights |magazine=Artists & Illustrators |pages=17–19 |location=London, England |publisher=Chelsea Magazine Company}}

Process

Foster works with graphite and watercolour paints and utilises the ‘en plein air’ technique.{{cite magazine |last=Kalayil|first=Ann|date=1 January 2001|title= Artistic Adventures|magazine=Watercolor |publisher=American Artist|page=74}} He blends 19th century British explorer traditions of making detailed notebook sketches of his travels while working in a large-scale contemporary format.{{cite news|title=There's No Mountain Too High, No Valley Too Wide, for Watercolor Artist Tony Foster |website=artdaily.com |date=13 May 2009 |publisher=Jose Villarreal |url=https://artdaily.cc/news/30813/There-s-No-Mountain-too-High--No-Valley-Too-Wide--for-Watercolor-Artist-Tony-Foster#.YIdX0xNKjrI}} Foster sketches on-site to achieve authenticity and never works from photographs because he believes a direct response is more important than photographic accuracy.{{cite news |last=Charles|first=Eleanor |date=26 May 1985 |title=Journey Paintings |work=The New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/26/nyregion/connecticut-guide-260898.html |access-date=1 June 2021}}{{cite news|last1=Koster |first1=Anna |title=Two new galleries present fascinating shows |work=San Jose Mercury News |location=San Jose, CA|date=23 March 2016 |publisher=Sharon Ryan}}

Trekking on foot, rafting, canoeing or scuba diving are some of the methods Foster employs to explore the natural landscape.{{cite news |last1=Nolan |first1=Tim |title=Where This Artist Goes, Danger Often Follows |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=18 December 2008 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122955406891315865}} He documents the experience of his travels, travelling slowly to encounter flora, fauna, people, and objects, recording it through diary notes and collected souvenirs which are essential elements of his artworks. To develop his paintings, some of which necessitate several weeks on-site, Foster frequently camps where he chooses to paint.{{cite magazine |last=Reynolds |first=Jane |date=1 June 2008 |title=Paint with the professionals: Harsher Climates |magazine=Artists & Illustrators |page=20 |location=London, England |publisher=Chelsea Magazine Company}}{{cite news |last1=Farr |first1=Sheila |title=Depth of Field |work=The Seattle Times |date=5 October 2000 |department=Section E |pages=1–2}} He often contends with harsh climate conditions to complete his artworks.{{cite news |last1=Wade |first1=Alex |title=My brush with death |work=The Times |location=London, England|date=29 March 2008 |department=The Knowledge, p. 2}}{{cite news |last1=Alberge |first1=Dalya |title=ART / Rainforest man: When Tony Foster scouts a location for one of his landscapes he can barely see the wood for the trees, the insects, and the charging pigs . . . Dalya Alberge reports|website=The Independent |location=London, England|date=22 February 1993 |publisher=Independent Digital News & Media Ltd}}

Foster resolves about two-thirds of each painting on-site, leaving graphite notes on the paper for reference, then completes the work in his Cornish studio. These notes provide a revelation of his process and a record of decisions made in the field. The completed watercolour artworks include his diary entries, collected souvenirs, talismans, and maps, resulting in a visual and written record of Foster's encounters on his wilderness journeys.{{cite news |last1=Muller |first1=Seth |title=Tony Foster show at MNA reveals his process |work=Arizona Daily Sun |date=16 June 2013 |url=https://azdailysun.com/lifestyles/tony-foster-show-at-mna-reveals-his-process/article_d86a9ba1-2920-5ca5-8900-2c36a1bf3345.html |location=Flagstaff, Arizona}}{{cite magazine |last=Foster|first=Tony|date=1 May 1989|title= Artist at Large|magazine=Condé Nast Traveler |pages=136–141}}

Career

Since 1982, Tony Foster has travelled worldwide and painted wildernesses, creating a series of ‘watercolour diaries’.{{cite web |url= http://tfaoi.org/aa/8aa/8aa27c.htm|title= Artist-explorers and Today's Western Landscape |last=Besaw|first=Mindy A.|year=2008|website=Resource Library |publisher=Traditional Fine Arts Organization|access-date=28 March 2008}} He believes in the importance of wilderness and the need to protect it.{{cite book|last=Robinson |first=Duncan |author-link=Duncan Robinson (art historian)|date=1 April 2001 |title=Worldviews: The Watercolor Diaries of Tony Foster |publisher=Frye Art Museum|isbn=978-0962460227}}

His artworks of the American West draw comparisons to expedition artists of the early West, such as Thomas Moran and George Catlin by art historian Mindy Besaw. Art historian Duncan Robinson states Foster's work demonstrates the mastery of the centuries-old tradition of English landscape, drawing comparison to John Linnell, John Constable, and Peter De Wint.

Foster's works have resulted in several major exhibitions.{{cite news |last1=Cox |first1=Larry |title=Grand Canyon inspires British watercolorist |work=The Tucson Citizen |location=Tucson, Arizona |date=13 November 2008 |at=Calendar Plus}}

Collections

Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA{{cite web |title=Autry's Collections Online – painting Eight Days on Eagle Peak - Looking East |url=http://collections.theautry.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=M632915;type=101 |website=collections.theautry.org}}
Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID{{cite web |title=Myths, Fables, and Fortunes: Our Place within the Landscape |url=https://boiseartmuseum.org/exhibition/myths-fables-and-fortunes/ |website=www.boiseartmuseum.org}}
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO{{cite web |title=16 Days Rafting the Colorado/225.8-miles Lee's Ferry to Diamond Creek {{!}} Denver Art Museum |url=https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/object/2002.51.11 |website=www.denverartmuseum.org}}
Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV{{cite web |title=Blog |url=https://www.nevadaart.org/art/collections/robert-s-and-dorothy-j-keyser-art-of-the-greater-west-collection/bae105c3-d00c-4cf6-a0bb-cf9ff7661ae8/ |website=Nevada Museum of Art |language=en}}
Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ{{cite web |title=From Point Sublime looking ESE (Desde Point Sublime viendo hacia el ESE) |url=https://phxart.org/arts/from-point-sublime-looking-ese-desde-point-sublime-viendo-hacia-el-ese/ |website=Phoenix Art Museum}}
The Foster Museum, Palo Alto, CA
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT{{cite web |title=Tony Foster: Watercolor Diaries, Cornwall to Colorado |url=https://britishart.yale.edu/exhibitions-programs/tony-foster-watercolor-diaries-cornwall-colorado

|website=Yale Center for British Art}}

Awards

1988 Yosemite Renaissance Prize
1994 Elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
2002 Royal Geographical Society Cherry Kearton Medal
2015 The Phoenix Art Museum West Select, silver medal for Works on Paper{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}
2017 The Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World Award for Arts and the Environment{{cite press release

| author =Staff

| title =Nick Reeves Award 2017

| url =https://ccanw.org.uk/nick-reeves-award-2017/

| location =Stroud, Gloucestershire, England

| date =25 October 2017

}}

Journeys

1982 Travels without a Donkey in the Cévennes. With photographer James Ravilious, Foster retraces the steps of Robert Louis Stevenson's 120-mile journey through the Cévennes mountains in south-central France as recounted in Stevenson's book Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879).{{cite news |last=Faraldi |first=Caryll |date=31 October 1982 |title=Travels with a Golf Trolley|work=The Observer |location=London, England |publisher=Paul Webster|series=Observer Magazine}}
1984 Thoreau’s Country: Walks and Canoe Journeys in New England. Foster pays homage to Henry David Thoreau's following Thoreau's wanderings in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.{{cite journal |last=Huber|first=J. Parker|date=1985|title=Wanderlust Artist Tony Foster|journal=Appalachia|publisher=Appalachian Mountain Club|issue=Winter 1985–1986|pages=10–35}}{{cite news |last=Hanson |first=Bernard |date=9 June 1985 |title=Briton's Watercolors at Yale |work=Hartford Courant |department=Arts/Entertainment|location=Hartford, CT |publisher=Andrew Julien |page=130}}
1986–87 John Muir's High Sierra: A Watercolour Diary. Foster hikes the entire 211-mile trek of the John Muir Trail. This exhibition's appreciation of America's National Parks helps renew interest in John Muir and the formation of the John Muir Trust in Scotland.{{cite news |last=Huber |first=J. Parker |date=4 October 1987 |title=Sierra Odyssey |work=Sacramento Bee |department=Sacramento Bee Magazine|location=Sacramento, CA |publisher=The McClatchy Company |pages=10, 12–13, 15}}
1988–89 Exploring the Grand Canyon. Foster hikes 400 miles of trails in the Grand Canyon painting its views and geology. One artwork pays homage to watercolorist Gunnar Widforss.
1990–94 Arid Lands: Watercolour Diaries of Journeys across Deserts. Foster highlights the beauty of deserts in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico.{{cite news |last=McCloud |first=Kathleen |date=15 December 1995 |title=Desert Diaries |work=The Santa Fe New Mexican |location=Santa Fe, NM |publisher=Tom Cross |pages=18, 63}}
1991–93 Rainforest Diaries: Watercolours from Costa Rica. Foster spends many months travelling and painting in the lush wilderness of untouched cloud forests in Costa Rica.
1993–94 Wilderness Journeys: Watercolour Diaries of the Idaho Rockies. Foster treks and paints in Idaho, revealing characteristics of each of the parallel ranges that make up the Rocky Mountains in Idaho.
1996–97 Ice and Fire: Watercolour Diaries of Volcano Journeys. Foster studies and paints erupting, active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes in his travels to Montserrat, Hawaii, the Andes, the Cascades, and California.{{cite news |last=Lee |first=Veronica |date=4 December 2020 |title=Artist-Explorer Tony Foster to speak at YCBA |work=Yale Daily News |location=New Haven, CT |publisher=Susan Chen |url=https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2020/12/04/artist-explorer-tony-foster-to-speak-at-ycba/}}
1998–99 After Lewis and Clark: Explorer Artists and the American West. Foster retraces the footsteps of Lewis and Clark in Montana, Idaho, and Washington, painting remaining wild places and examining the changing landscape.
1998–2002 WaterMarks: Watercolour Diaries from Swamps to Icebergs. Foster paints water in all its forms, including paintings of Arctic icebergs, Yellowstone National Park geysers, the swamps of Georgia and Florida, and the waterfalls of Guyana.{{cite news |last=White |first=Melanie |date=3 November 2004 |title=Explorer daubs diaries of watery wonderlands |work=Jackson Hole News & Guide |location=Jackson, WY |publisher=Kevin Olson |page=83}}
2002 The Whole Salmon. Foster rafts the entire 415-mile Salmon River and paints a watercolour each day to document his month-long journey.{{cite news |date=20 September 2003 |title=Artist presents slide lecture on Salmon River |work=The Times-News |location=Ketchum, ID |publisher=Matt Sandberg |page=21}}
2004–2007 Searching for a Bigger Subject: Watercolour Diaries from Everest and the Grand Canyon. Foster documents two of the world's natural wonders, Mount Everest and the Grand Canyon. He is the first person to paint all three sides of Mount Everest.{{cite magazine |last=Foster |first=Tony |year=2008 |title=Tony Foster Blurs the Lines Between Creative Work and Play |magazine=SunValleymag.com |issue=46 June 2008 |location=London, England}}
2006 Rocky Days. Foster documents a series of short hiking trips in Idaho's Rockies, including the Boulders, Pioneers, Alice Lake, and Shangri-la in the Sawtooths.{{cite news |last=Bossick |first=Karen |date=18 September 2008 |title=Tony Foster introduces Painting on the Edge of the World in Ketchum |work=Idaho Mountain Express |department=Wood River Journal|location=Ketchum, Idaho |url=https://magicvalley.com/entertainment/tony-foster-introduces-painting-on-the-edge-of-the-world-in-ketchum/article_259129a7-a3a0-5734-aafe-57bf3de0bace.html |access-date=1 June 2021}}
2009 Secret Sites. Foster paints the favourite remote sites of his Idaho supporters that sustain him on his journeys. Maps marking the locations remain sealed inside the framed artworks.
2007–15 Sacred Places: Watercolour Diaries from the American Southwest. Foster travels to the Four Corners region of the American Southwest to sacred sites of different cultures, including Native Americans, Catholics, New Age practitioners, and Mormons.
2007–15 Exploring Beauty: Watercolour Diaries from the Wild. Foster captures the beauty and wonder of inaccessible and endangered places across the globe. These locations were nominated by ‘luminaries’ and include world leading scientists, explorers, writers, environmentalists, and mountaineers: naturalist Sir David Attenborough, explorer Robin Hanbury-Tenison, Director Emeritus of Kew Botanical Garden Sir Ghillean Prance.{{cite magazine |last=Fitch |first=Chris |date=10 June 2016 |title=Exploring Beauty: Watercolour Diaries from the Wild |url=https://geographical.co.uk/reviews/exhibitions/item/1768-exploring-beauty-watercolour-diaries-from-the-wild |magazine=Geographical |location=London, England |publisher=Syon Publishing |access-date=23 May 2021}}
2018 Watercolour Diaries: Great Basin and Copper Basin. Foster studies and records his explorations in the Great Basin and Idaho's Copper Basin. This wilderness area is part of the Salmon-Challis National Forest with views of the Pioneer Mountains.{{cite news |last=Melville |first=Chris |date=19 June 2019 |title=Tony Foster explores Earth's beauteous landscapes |work=mtexpress.com |url=https://www.mtexpress.com/arts_and_events/arts/tony-foster-explores-earth-s-beauteous-landscapes/article_365e0d4a-9228-11e9-a6c1-83c99833dc92.html |accessdate=26 May 2021}}
2018-23 Watercolour Diaries from the Green River. Foster explores and paints various locations on the Green River from its headwaters in Wyoming to its confluence with the Colorado River in Utah.{{cite magazine |last=McWhorter |first=Karen Brooks |date=17 May 2023 |title=A Green River Journey |url=https://centerofthewest.org/2023/05/17/points-west-green-river-journey/|magazine=Points West |location=Cody, Wyoming |access-date=20 June 2023}}{{cite web |title=Tony Foster: Watercolour Diaries from the Green River|url=https://centerofthewest.org/tony-foster-exhibition/ |website=Buffalo Bill Center of the West}}

Special projects

Artbox is one of England's smallest art galleries, housed in a repurposed British Telecom red phone box and located streetside in Tywardreath, Cornwall. Foster, who leases the phone box from his local council for £1 per year, is Artbox's patron and founder. He regularly collaborates with Roshni Tamang Mitchell and Dana Roberts to organise and rotate community-based exhibitions. Artbox can feature the work of contemporary artists or historical figures. The first exhibition, which opened in 2019, was a tribute to 19th century John Lobb, a Tywardreath farm labourer who became a royal bootmaker.{{cite news |last=Letcher|first=Lisa|date=10 August 2019 |title=Villagers convert phone box into Cornwall's smallest art gallery |work=Cornwall Live | url=https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/local-news/villagers-convert-phone-box-cornwalls-2919165 | accessdate=26 May 2021 }}
Lockdown Diary–56 Days is a visual diary of experiences that Tony Foster recorded on his daily walks from home during a British lockdown in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Foster took a new walk and painted a new subject every day while sheltering-in-place in Tywardreath, England. Foster relates that "Like John Muir, I have come to realise that anything studied intently enough will offer insights into the extraordinary variety and beauty of our world."{{cite news |date=3 June 2020 |title=Experience Nature with British Artist-Explorer Tony Foster Through Video Tours of His Journeys |work=Artfix Daily | url=https://www.artfixdaily.com/news_feed/2020/06/03/7850-experience-nature-with-british-artist-explorer-tony-foster-throug | accessdate=26 May 2021 }}

Books

{{cite book|last1=Foster|first1=Tony |title=Painting at the Edge of the World: The Watercolours of Tony Foster |publisher=Venture Press|year=2008|pages=324|isbn=978-0295988177}}

Personal life

He resides in Cornwall, United Kingdom, with his wife, Ann.{{cite news |last=St Claire|first=Lynne|date=8 October 2008 |title=Lifelong quest for the big picture |work=Western Morning News |location=Plymouth, England |publisher=South West Media Group|pages=2–3 }}{{cite magazine |last=Japenga|first=Ann|date=18 June 2011|title=Tony Foster: Icebergs and Ocotillo|magazine=California Desert Art |url=https://www.californiadesertart.com/tony-foster-icebergs-and-ocotillo|publisher=Ann Japenga}}

Gallery of selected works

Twenty-Three Days Painting the Canyon—From West of Navajo Point.jpg|Twenty-Three Days Painting the Canyon—From West of Navajo Point, 2013

The East (Kangshung) Face of Everest from above the Kama Valley · 15400' 4670m · 2007.jpg|The East (Kangshung) Face of Everest from above the Kama Valley · 15400' 4670m, 2007

Vilamendhoo—Dive 20.jpg|Vilamendhoo—Dive 20, 2004

Looking Out from Deer Cave, Mulu—Six Days.jpg|Looking Out from Deer Cave, Mulu—Six Days, 2015

Looking East through Changri La to Everest from above Ngozumpa - Four Days at 17600' 5370m · 2005.jpg|Looking East through Changri La to Everest from above Ngozumpa - Four Days at 17600' 5370m, 2005