Mary Beth McKenzie always works directly from life, with many of her subjects being friends and family. She is able to match her impressions with a concern for the formal aspects of pictorial construction. There is always a subtle mood to her work. She has said, “When I paint someone, I am less concerned with likeness than with the character or spirit of that person.”
McKenzie was born in Cleveland, OH. She studied at the Art Students League of New York, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Cooper School in Cleveland, and the National Academy of Design. Her teachers were Robert Philipp, Robert Brackman, José Cintron, Daniel Greene, and Burton Silverman.
McKenzie currently teaches at the Art Students League and was elected to full membership in the National Academy of Design in 1994.
![Self-Portrait [double]](/internal/media/dispatcher/17069/thumbnail)
![Self-Portrait [small]](/internal/media/dispatcher/8483/thumbnail)
![Self-Portrait [with sweatshirt]](/internal/media/dispatcher/17071/thumbnail)