Ranked among America's foremost watercolorists of the early twentieth century, Dodge Macknight established a notable reputation in Boston art circles at the turn of the century. A native of Providence, Rhode Island, he served an apprenticeship with a theatrical scene and sign painter before joining the Taber Art Company in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1878.

In 1883 he went to Paris, studying under Fernand Cormon from 1884 to 1886 and exhibiting his work at the Salons. In 1886 he met the Post-lmpressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, whom he later visited in Arles and who influenced his penchant for bold colors. Between 1886 and 1897 Macknight traveled and painted throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. Returning to the United States in 1897, he lived in Mystic, Connecticut before settling in East Sandwich, on Cape Cod, in 1900.

Thereafter he spent his summers in locales that provided him with interesting scenery and strong sunlight, such as the Grand Canyon, Spain, Jamaica and Morocco. Characterized by the use of intense hues, his watercolors shocked many contemporary reviewers but were admired by such progressive-minded critics and artists as Philip Hale and Denman Ross.

Macknight's patrons included Boston's foremost collectors, among whom was Isabella Stewart Gardner, who displayed his striking watercolors in a specially created Macknight Room at Fenway Court.

Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton