GRAEME BAXTER ARTIST Original remarque of the clubhouse at Castle Pines , Colorado GRAEME BAXTER BIOGRAPHY

raeme Baxter has been official artist the 17th hole at The Old Course, St Andrews, Gto some of the world’s foremost golf that helped to launch his career. When the tournaments, such as The , The Open painting was shown to Sir Michael Bonallack, Championship, The , The Kraft the secretary of the Royal and Ancient Golf Nabisco Championship and ANA Inspiration Club, he remarked that it was one of the finest as well as artist to the PGA Tour and European golf paintings he had seen. A second painting of Tour. His work is displayed in clubhouses at the clubhouse at Turnberry, again well received, St Andrews, Augusta, Pebble Beach, Dubai, convinced Graeme of his career path. Mission Hills, and Pine Valley in China. Graeme possesses a unique ability to historically While Graeme considers himself fortunate to be record golf landscapes and portraits that capture able to marry his two passions into a profession, his own passion for the game. His paintings and he takes his role of a golf historian very seriously. lithographs are displayed in almost forty countries “My goal is to record golf history through my worldwide. paintings,” he says. “I like to be accurate but not photographically accurate: I am striving to find Born in Scotland in 1958, it wasn’t long before the heart of a , grasp the many details Graeme realized he had a talent for landscape and colours, and capture its key characteristics art. A second love was for golf, which was borne and natural feel.” out of watching his father play the game; as a young man Graeme honed his own skill through Since 2008, Graeme has been a member of playing at Gleneagles. Meanwhile, he was Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, inspired by watching the epic duels between Jack California. The club is home to the Kraft Nicklaus and in the British and US Nabisco Championship and ANA Inspiration, Open tournaments. one of the LPGA Tour’s majors and one of the many events for which he is official artist. “Art came first, and the love of golf came Graeme is also a member of St Andrews and second,” says Graeme, who went on to study at Royal Perth in Scotland. Glasgow School of Art. It was his painting of 1991 Appointed official artist of the Ryder Cup: commissioned by Bernard Gallagher, Ryder Cup Captain 1991-2018 1993 Appointed official artist of the 1993 Championships, Wimbledon 1994 British Artist of the Year Awards – shortlist of five 1995 Record holder as first living British traditional artist to sell a painting over a six-figure sum (St Andrews) 1997 Appointed official artist of the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament, Japan 1998 Appointed official artist of the PGA Tour of Europe 1998-2003 1999 Appointed official artist of the European Tour 1999 to date 2000 Appointed official artist of 2000-2012 2001 Appointed official artist of the Presidents Cup 2003-2013

HONORS AND AWARDS

2001 Appointed official artist for the Warburg Cup 2002 Awarded Medal of Honor by the Mayor of Stirling for service to the Scottish art industry 2002 Appointed official artist for the World American Express Championship 2002 Appointed official artist for the 2004 Presented with Palm Desert, California, Sister Cities Citizen Diplomat Award 2004 Appointed official artist of the Kraft Nabisco Championship 2005 Appointed official artist of Bruichladdich Whisky Distillers 2012 Appointed official artist of the USPGA for the PGA Championship 2015 Appointed official artist of ANA Inspiration tournament

Opposite: the 11th hole, Amen Corner, at Augusta National Golf Club, Georgia

EVOLUTION OF A PAINTING: FROM IDEA TO UNVEILING

Graeme’s meticulous method of working with golf clubs ensures that you receive Step 2: presenting the photographs a painting you and your members will cherish for generations. He seeks to record The next step is presenting the shortlist of potential views to the club. Usually a piece of history, very true to the texture and features of the course. this would be no more than four different images.

Step 1: photographing the course Step 3: selecting the image Over three days, morning and evening, Graeme will take several hundred Once you or your members have made your choice of image, Graeme prepares a photographs of the course, including views recommended by the club, plus work-up of that view as a drawing with notes attached, e.g. “Show the clubhouse trying to find unexpected new angles that bring the course to life in a new light. larger...” or “More detail on the mountain” etc. All these photographs are available at no cost to the club.

Step 4: the painting begins Step 5: unveiling Once the image for painting is approved, Graeme provides a date the painting On display for the unveiling are the original oil painting and a canvas giclée will be finished by. This allows you to organize an unveiling date. As the painting copy, both framed. Graeme also prepares a two-minute video presentation about evolves, photographs are sent to the club so you can be reassured of progress and the process of painting. The unveiling is normally attached to a club event to to share with your membership if you wish. A typical large canvas oil painting maximize publicity for the painting and ensure you create club history. takes around one month to complete. I like to be accurate but not photographically accurate: I am striving to find the heart of a golf course, grasp the many details and colours, and capture its key characteristics and natural feel

Left: the step-by-step evolution of the painting from blank canvas

Right: the finished painting of the 8th hole at The Quarry at La Quinta, California GOLF COURSES OF THE WORLD

The 18th hole at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club The 15th hole at Carnoustie Golf Lancashire, Angus, Scotland The 12th hole at Old Head Golf Links The 18th hole at Le Golf National, Paris Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland Versailles, GOLF COURSES OF THE WORLD

The 9th hole at Kennemer Golf & Country Club The 9th hole at Emirates Golf Club Zandvoort, Netherlands Dubai The 18th hole at Capilano Golf Club The 18th hole at Doha Golf Club Vancouver, British Columbia, Qatar

AN INTERVIEW WITH GRAEME A profile of Graeme in Dluxe Magazine, Birmingham, England, following the commissioning of a painting for Nailcote Hall Golf Club.

raeme Baxter is acknowledged as one then I’d meet him at the Open, the PGA Course there. I painted the 17th green in with at Bay Hill for the Gof the world’s most highly acclaimed Championship or the Ryder Cup and 1986 and my dad took the painting to the 30th anniversary of a painting I did of painters of golfing landscapes. he’d tell me about his wonderful course at Secretary of the Royal and Ancient Golf Bob Hope who had passed away by then. He became the official artist for Nailcote Hall. So we were friends before he Club of St Andrews who loved it – he said I’ve painted around the world, including the Open Championship in 1988, a even talked about doing a painting but this it was the best landscape of a golf course Dubai, Japan, China, Indonesia… commission that ran until just last year, year he said I should do something because that he’d ever seen. We did some prints of I’ve had my paintings unveiled by and the official artist for the Ryder Cup in it’s the 20th anniversary, the celebrity field the painting and took them to a gallery in Prince Andrew and Prince Edward and I 1991, which will finish in 2018. He has also is amazing and the pros get better every Glasgow and they sold out. No-one else did my first Royal portrait commission two been artist for the PGA Tour, the World year. When I came out I was stunned at was doing this kind of golf art at the time, years ago of Prince Charles and his polo Golf Championship, the European Tour how beautiful the place was, he’d done I was the first to do it. horse. That was a big honour for me. I also and the Solheim Cup and has painted such a great job and the glorious course spent two days once with as course landscapes in 32 countries, as well is beautifully manicured. It’s a real honour What is the favourite painting that VIPs doing a presentation and we signed as doing several portraits of the world’s top to do this painting with all the celebrities you’ve done? prints of my paintings together for charity. players. and tremendous players that are here, it’s I did a 7 x 11 foot painting for the Open at That was a great moment too. In a special commission for the something that I wanted to do and it’s a St Andrews in 1995 that took six months to Farmfoods British 3 Championship, which very special moment for me. paint. It was unveiled by Peter Thompson ran from 26-29 July, Graeme has painted (five times Open Champion) and it sold If there’s one golfer who you would the 7th hole of the Cromwell course Going back to the beginning, how did for six figures, which was a record at the love to paint, who would it be? by special request from Nailcote Hall it all start for you as a painter? time for a living artist. It now hangs in the I’ve had special commissions from Jack owner Rick Cressman. The painting was My father had a gallery so I was surrounded main foyer at the Old Course Hotel at St Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer and I’ve unveiled at a special event on the eve of by art and when I was 12 years old I won Andrews so I’m really proud of that. met all the top golfers in the world but the 2016 Championship and attended by a Kellogg’s ‘Paint A Village’ competition Last year I had a painting unveiled by I’ve never met Tiger Woods. I’ve always tournament host CBE, Nigel and that’s when I realised that I loved and that was pretty special, admired Tiger and would be honoured to Mansell CBE and many other famous painting. I got accepted for both Glasgow a high point for me. At the unveiling it do his painting. faces. and Edinburgh Art Schools, then I was a was said that I’d done paintings for many fine art dealer for several years and would golfers, including Lee Janzen, Mark Brooks, Graeme, how did it come about that paint the odd landscape, wild animals Steve Elkington, Lee Westwood, Darren you did this painting? and birds. Occasionally I would visit my Clarke and Pádraig Harrington and Jack I met Rick Cressman about 25 years ago sister who was a teacher at St Andrews said “And now me” which was pretty at the Open Championship and since in Scotland and I would paint the Old cool. I also got to do a special unveiling

Left: the 8th hole at Pebble Links, California COMMISSIONING AN ORIGINAL GRAEME BAXTER OIL PAINTING FOR YOUR CLUB

Commissioning an original Graeme Baxter oil painting is a rewarding experience. You can choose from one of two programs. Both allow you to create a piece of living history, engage your membership and raise funds:

LEGACY PROGRAM

The Legacy Program is for private golf clubs, and allows the club to commission a large, original oil painting at no cost to the club. Graeme offers 25 limited edition canvas giclée copies to the members. When 15 of those are sold, the original oil painting is gifted to the club; when all 25 are sold, the club also benefits from a limited edition lithograph print run free of charge.

SIGNATURE PROGRAM

With the Signature Program, the club purchases the original oil painting but receives up to 500 lithograph prints at no cost. This allows the club, through the sale of limited edition prints, to recover the cost of the commission and to make a profit.

Graeme is happy to discuss both options with you to establish which is the more cost-effective.

Opposite: View from the Old Course Hotel, St Andrews, Scotland

GRAEME BAXTER GOLF ARTIST www.graemebaxter.com [email protected]

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