R. Brownell McGrew (1916-1994) - Western artist biography narrated by Dr. Mark Sublette

R. Brownell McGrew was a bear of a man who dressed in dusty boots, faded jeans and always with his favorite Navajo ring on his oversized hand.
He was an intensely private man who enjoyed being alone on his horse, Silver, as much as he did painting and spent much of his free time crisscrossing the Navajo and Hopi Nation looking for his next painting to emerge.
Born in 1916 in Columbus Ohio R. Brownell McGrew moved to California at the age of 8 and was fortunate to receive stellar art training at Alhambra High School under Lester Bonar, an outstanding watercolorist. McGrew studied at Otis Art Institute in LA principally with Ralph Holmes then found worked for Columbia and MGM
Through painting trips with artist Jimmy Swinnerton, McGrew was introduced to the desert and the Navajo and Hopi reservations of the Southwest, where he fell in love with the people and their land.
McGrew’s closest friends called him Brownie and his Native friends preferred Big Mac. Brownell was a serious artist when it came to his subject matter for his paintings. Elderly men of character where his favorite models, which he referred to as the “long hairs”--men who had lived full lives whose faces told the story of sun and perseverance.
Unlike many artists of the day, Brownell always paid his Native models for their time, many of his subjects undoubtedly had never seen a professional artist like McGrew and most only spoke Navajo or Hopi. McGrew’s limited Native language skills were not necessary as he had a genuine smile and enthusiasm for his craft and it was clear he was a friend, a man who would portray those sitting for him with honor and dignity.
McGrew was not as interested in portraying Native American’s past history as much as he was the future of the people he loved to depict in large expansive canvas of families at work or intricate portraits.
McGrew accomplished these paintings by using dozens of preliminary drawings of the people, which he cherished. These could include sheep, goats, horses and of course the individuals that have lived for centuries in the high deserts of Arizona and New Mexico.
One cannot but help see the joy and humanity in his detailed drawings that were done from life. Each illustration a snap shot of life on the reservation in the 1960’s and 70’s. His painting’s gracing the cover of Arizona Highways in July of 1969 and October 1977.
The fascicle drawings by the artist’s were his greatest treasure, the hard-earned field sketches that make up a life’s work. Remote landscapes explored, Atavistic Medicine Men and young women at play and work are some of McGrew’s most sought after images
Artists like McGrew cling tightly to these little gems of memory for it is in these flashes of these moments where come the major paintings which only a few can be achieved by an artist over a life time.
McGrew was as a religious man who put all his faith in God, but was also not afraid to hear the other side. Once while painting Haddas Chatlie an elderly medicine man the talk turned to religion. McGrew stated that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth unto which Chatlie repied “I think Coyote made it.” McGrew respected the Navajo and Hopi’s religious services and attended such events including a Navajo Kinalda ceremony.
McGrew’s paintings are coveted and have realized close to a million dollars at auction but are only part of the story, these painting masterpiece’s foundation begin and end with the drawings that help tell the intimate story of the Native people, a snap shot in time when a talented artist was captivated by the Southwest’s Native stewards of their precious land.