Bulls fascinate artist Angus McDonald, whose life-size ‘bull portraits’ depict them with almost photographic realism.
Story & photos by Iain Dawson
Bull Market couldn’t have been a more apt title for Angus McDonald’s collection of artworks. The 42 year-old traded the fast-paced, high-stress life of a city-based stockbroker for the somewhat slower, though no less lucrative, life of an artist more than a decade ago. Since that time, Angus has become better known as one of Australia’s most recognised and collectable emerging painters.
Tim Olsen, a childhood friend who has become Angus’s Sydney art dealer, recalls his first impressions of a young, creative Angus. “At school, he always showed promise and was always the best drawer in the class,” he says. “While the rest of us scratched and splashed upon bits of paper, Angus was capable of looking at any object and drafting it impeccably.” After walking through Tim’s gallery in Paddington, Sydney, during Angus’s recent exhibition, it’s hard to disagree – Angus’s impressive still life paintings are sublimely executed in a style that presents an almost photographic, tactile realism to the collections of jugs, fruit and drapery on what could be any kitchen table or bench. They are snatches of life caught in exquisite detail.
This story excerpt is from Issue #46
Outback Magazine: Apr/May 2006
