Tony Foster
Tony Foster painting Mount Everest, 2005
Born	Richard Anthony Foster (1946-04-02)2 April 1946 New York,Lincolnshire,England
Nationality	British
Known for	Artist-explorer,Landscape artWatercolor painting
Spouse	Ann (Partington) Foster
Awards	1994 Elected Fellow of theRoyal Geographical Society, 2002Cherry Kearton Medal and Award
Website	tony-foster.co.uk

Richard Anthony Foster (born 2 April 1946), known asTony 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.

Tony Foster was born inNew York, Lincolnshire, England, in 1946. He trained as an art teacher and taught for seven years before serving as a Regional Arts Officer for theSouth West Arts Council of Great Britain. He is a self-taught artist, initially working in mixed media and silkscreen as apop artist.^[1][2] Inspired by the methodology ofJ. M. W. Turner,^[3] and Foster's interest and passion for wildernesses and paintingen plein air, he chose to focus on his own narrative observations, making art a full-time occupation at age 35.^[4]

Foster works withgraphite andwatercolour paints and utilises the ‘en plein air’ technique.^[2] He blends 19th century British explorer traditions of making detailed notebook sketches of his travels while working in a large-scale contemporary format.^[5] Foster sketches on-site to achieve authenticity and never works from photographs because he believes a direct response is more important than photographic accuracy.^[6][7]

Trekking on foot,rafting,canoeing orscuba diving are some of the methods Foster employs to explore the natural landscape.^[2][5][8] 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.^[9] To develop his paintings, some of which necessitate several weeks on-site, Foster frequently camps where he chooses to paint.^{[1][2][10][11]} He often contends with harsh climate conditions to complete his artworks.^[12][13]

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.^[5][14][15]

Since 1982, Tony Foster has travelled worldwide and paintedwildernesses, creating a series of ‘watercolour diaries’.^[9][16] He believes in the importance of wilderness and the need to protect it.^[17]

His artworks of the American West draw comparisons to expedition artists of the early West, such asThomas Moran andGeorge Catlin by art historian Mindy Besaw.^[18][16] Art historianDuncan Robinson states Foster's work demonstrates the mastery of the centuries-old tradition of English landscape, drawing comparison toJohn Linnell,John Constable, andPeter De Wint.^[17]

Foster's works have resulted in several major exhibitions.^{[6][13][11][7][19][20]}

• Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA^[21]
• Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID^[22]
• Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO^[23]
• Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ
• Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV^[24]
• Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ^[25]
• The Foster Museum, Palo Alto, CA^[1]
• Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT^[26]

• 1988 Yosemite Renaissance Prize^[4]
• 1994 Elected Fellow of theRoyal Geographical Society^[4]
• 2002Royal Geographical Society Cherry Kearton Medal^[5]
• 2015 ThePhoenix Art Museum West Select, silver medal for Works on Paper^{[citation needed]}
• 2017 The Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World Award for Arts and the Environment^[27]

• 1982Travels without a Donkey in the Cévennes. With photographerJames Ravilious, Foster retraces the steps ofRobert Louis Stevenson's 120-mile journey through theCévennes mountains in south-central France as recounted in Stevenson's bookTravels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879).^[28][29]
• 1984Thoreau’s Country: Walks and Canoe Journeys in New England. Foster pays homage toHenry David Thoreau's following Thoreau's wanderings in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.^{[28][6][30][31]}
• 1986–87John Muir's High Sierra: A Watercolour Diary. Foster hikes the entire 211-mile trek of theJohn Muir Trail. This exhibition's appreciation ofAmerica's National Parks helps renew interest inJohn Muir and the formation of theJohn Muir Trust in Scotland.^[28][15]
• 1988–89Exploring the Grand Canyon. Foster hikes 400 miles of trails in theGrand Canyon painting its views and geology. One artwork pays homage to watercoloristGunnar Widforss.^[2]
• 1990–94Arid Lands: Watercolour Diaries of Journeys across Deserts. Foster highlights the beauty ofdeserts in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico.^[2][32]
• 1991–93Rainforest Diaries: Watercolours from Costa Rica. Foster spends many months travelling and painting in the lush wilderness of untouchedcloud forests inCosta Rica.^[2][13]
• 1993–94Wilderness Journeys: Watercolour Diaries of the Idaho Rockies. Foster treks and paints in Idaho, revealing characteristics of each of the parallel ranges that make up theRocky Mountains in Idaho.^[2]
• 1996–97Ice and Fire: Watercolour Diaries of Volcano Journeys. Foster studies and paints erupting, active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes in his travels toMontserrat,Hawaii, theAndes, theCascades, and California.^[2][33]
• 1998–99After Lewis and Clark: Explorer Artists and the American West. Foster retraces the footsteps ofLewis and Clark in Montana, Idaho, and Washington, painting remaining wild places and examining the changing landscape.^[34]
• 1998–2002WaterMarks: Watercolour Diaries from Swamps to Icebergs. Foster paints water in all its forms, including paintings ofArcticicebergs,Yellowstone National Parkgeysers, theswamps of Georgia and Florida, and thewaterfalls of Guyana.^[20]
• 2002The Whole Salmon. Foster rafts the entire 415-mileSalmon River and paints a watercolour each day to document his month-long journey.^[34]
• 2004–2007Searching for a Bigger Subject: Watercolour Diaries from Everest and the Grand Canyon. Foster documents two of the world's natural wonders,Mount Everest and theGrand Canyon. He is the first person to paint all three sides of Mount Everest.^[4][5][35]
• 2006Rocky Days. Foster documents a series of short hiking trips inIdaho's Rockies, including the Boulders,Pioneers,Alice Lake, andShangri-la in the Sawtooths.^[36]
• 2009Secret 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.^[36]
• 2007–15Sacred Places: Watercolour Diaries from the American Southwest. Foster travels to theFour Corners region of theAmerican Southwest to sacred sites of different cultures, includingNative Americans,Catholics,New Age practitioners, andMormons.^[1]
• 2007–15Exploring 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: naturalistSir David Attenborough, explorerRobin Hanbury-Tenison, Director Emeritus ofKew Botanical GardenSir Ghillean Prance.^[37]
• 2018Watercolour Diaries: Great Basin and Copper Basin. Foster studies and records his explorations in theGreat Basin and Idaho's Copper Basin. This wilderness area is part of theSalmon-Challis National Forest with views of thePioneer Mountains.^[38]
• 2018-23Watercolour Diaries from the Green River. Foster explores and paints various locations on theGreen River from itsheadwaters inWyoming to itsconfluence with theColorado River inUtah.^[39][40]

• Artbox is one of England's smallest art galleries, housed in a repurposed British Telecomred phone box and located streetside inTywardreath, 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 centuryJohn Lobb, a Tywardreath farm labourer who became a royal bootmaker.^[41]
• 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 theCOVID-19 pandemic. Foster took a new walk and painted a new subject every day while sheltering-in-place inTywardreath, England. Foster relates that "LikeJohn Muir, I have come to realise that anything studied intently enough will offer insights into the extraordinary variety and beauty of our world."^[42]

• Foster, Tony (2008).Painting at the Edge of the World: The Watercolours of Tony Foster. Venture Press. p. 324.ISBN 978-0295988177.

He resides in Cornwall, United Kingdom, with his wife, Ann.^[9][18]

• 
  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
• 
  Vilamendhoo—Dive 20, 2004
• 
  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

• The Foster Museum, Palo Alto, California, United States
• List of single-artist museums

• Driscoll, John; Skolnick, Arnold (1998).The Artist and the American Landscape. Cobb, CA: First Glance Books. p. 160.ISBN 978-1885440372.
• Kinsey, Joni Louise (1998).The Majesty of the Grand Canyon: 150 Years in Art. San Francisco, CA: Pomegranate. pp. 148–149.ISBN 978-0764929564.
• Scott, Amy (2006).Yosemite: Art of an American Icon. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. pp. 176, 178, 180, 191, 199.ISBN 978-0520249226.
• Caruso, Laura (2007).Heart of the West: New Painting and Sculpture of the American West. Denver, CO: Denver Art Museum. pp. 52–5, 61.ISBN 978-0806199719.
• Peck, Robert McCracken (2016).The Natural History of Edward Lear. Boston, MA: David R. Godine. pp. 164–166.ISBN 978-1567925838.
• Lewis-Jones, Huw; Herbert, Kari (2017).Explorers' Sketchbooks: The Art of Discovery & Adventure. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. pp. 200–203.ISBN 978-1567925838.
• Peck, Robert McCracken (2021).The Natural History of Edward Lear, New Edition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.ISBN 978-0691217239.

• Official website
• Artist Biography, Tony Foster
• List of Tony Foster Journeys
• The Foster Museum - official site

• 1946 births
• Living people
• Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society
• 20th-century English painters
• 21st-century English painters
• Artists from Cornwall
• Artists from Lincolnshire
• English male painters
• English landscape painters
• English watercolourists
• Painters from Cornwall
• People from East Lindsey District
• English explorers
• Cornish people
• Artists of the American West
• British watercolourists
• 20th-century English male artists
• 21st-century English male artists
• British painters

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