The Worlds of Robert McCall
The famed Paradise Valley artist talks about his public life and private inspiration
Camelback Premiere Issue - October/November 2004
Story by Bruce Farr - Photography by N. Scott Trimble
Robert McCall lives in two worlds. The first - the one that brought him fame as an artist -is the rich, fertile world of his imagination. It's inhabited by countless images painted on a lifetime's worth of stretched canvases: interplanetary spacecraft hovering over distant, heavenly bodies; space-suited astronauts exploring new frontiers; sleek airships rocketing through untold galaxies; and military men and women poised in postures of heroic service.
In this highly animated world, McCall has spent most of his nearly 85 years reaching beyond our earthly boundaries to explore-through his art-the universe in all its imaginative possibilities. He sums it up as neatly as one of his brushstrokes: "My whole thrust as a human being and an artist is the excitement I feel for this snowballing technology that we've been embedded in for the past three or four decades. It's part of the inspiration I have for being alive and it's reflected in the paintings I do."
McCall's parallel world is the one that he inhabits as a husband, father, neighbor, and friend. From the sanctuary of a sunny hillside home in Paradise Valley, it's the world that he and his wife Louise have lived in for the past 34 years-one in which they have served as generous volunteers and community patrons, where they dine in local restaurants, shop in nearby stores, entertain friends and relax on their patio, savoring the view. In short, it's a world much like anyone else's.
IN THE STUDIO
In the comfort of the spacious, light-drenched studio that adjoins his home, Robert McCall appears trim, tan and relaxed. From his robust appearance, it's difficult to believe that this internationally renowned artist will celebrate his 85th birthday in December. As if to emphasize the fact, he casually swings his right leg over the armrest of an office chair and sits in that manner throughout a lengthy interview.
The setting is undeniably McCall: sturdy wooden easels with crank handles to lift and secure the oversize canvases that are his signature; white-paneled walls blanketed with massive, futuristic paintings; tins and jars of paints and brushes; a set of broad, art print filing cabinets; a telescope on a tripod; and, in one corner, the now-famous movie poster art from the classic Stanley Kubrick film, "2001: A Space Odyssey."
SKATING IN COLUMBUS
McCall's celebrated career had its early beginnings his birthplace of Columbus, Ohio. It was there, as a child, that he says he nourished his interest in art in the rare book room at the Carnegie Public Library. "They had these beautifully bound books by artists like Audubon," he recalls. I could spend hours looking at page after page of these beautiful, hand-colored lithographs and illustrations."
It wasn't long before McCall began sketching from aspects of his own life. Drawing on his experience skating on ice covered ponds around the Columbus area, he began sketching ice skates. "I drew the blades and lacings of speed skates, figure skates-anything I could think of," he says. Other inspiration came from the artists working in the books and magazines that he regularly absorbed. One in particular, N.C. Wyeth, was considered to be the premier illustrator of his day "He was a giant; the passion and drama that he developed in his work were just remarkable," McCall says.
From there, McCall began a life-long fascination with painting armor-clad and uniformed knights and other heroic figures. "I drew their likenesses from the books of fairy tales that we had," he remembers.
Then, on a family trip when he was a teenager, McCall visited the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. "I was blown away and just inspired by what I saw there, and the science that was galloping at that time," he says. He later attended art school on a scholarship in that same city.
LIFE IN NEW YORK
From Chicago, McCall migrated to New York City where most of the magazines he was interested in doing work for-life, Popular Science, The Saturday Evening Post and Colliers-were published. Through the years, they became frequent vehicles for his increasingly sophisticated work. "One of the first jobs I got for Life was doing a series of illustrations of the events at Pearl Harbor. It was a real challenge and a fabulous opportunity" he says.
Out of this early experience, McCall says he found his true niche in painting imaginative, futuristic, technological subjects. "It really began with drawing 'The Automobile of Tomorrow' for Popular Science" he notes. "This became a very popular feature in the magazine.
After enlisting in the Army Air Corps where he served as a bombardier, he found - in aircraft - even more inspiration. "I loved every minute of it; flying in powerful machines thrilled me."
If there was a defining moment in McCall's experiences that he says absolutely shaped his artistic vision, it was when he began his association with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. "I became directly involved with NASA in 1956, when I met astronauts and visited actual launch sites" he says. As a member of the Society of Illustrators, McCall was given wide access to NASA, its plans and projects.
The experience provided him with background for some of the illustration work he was doing for the U.S. Air Force, as a civilian. "They were delighted to have members of the Society down at Cape Canaveral," he says. "I did a lot of flying in the back seat of fighter aircraft. I just loved it." With his increasingly impressive resume', McCall ended up doing illustration work for big aerospace manufacturers, such as McDonnell-Douglas and Sperry. "For a time, because I was doing so much of it, I was considered to be one of the preeminent aviation artists," he says.
PV "ON IMPULSE"
With much of his work in New York, McCall and his wife eventually settled in the upstate town of Chappaqua; but, after 15 years, they were ready for a move. In 1970, they visited Paradise Valley at the invitation of some New York friends who had relocated here. "Within three or four days, we saw the house we live in today and bought it on impulse. We've never regretted it," he says.
Over the past few decades, McCall's artistic output has been prolific. With permanent installations in many of the country's best-known museums and science institutes, he has become one of the United States' most recognized visual chroniclers of space-focused technology and its impact on our culture.
LIFE AT HOME
McCall says his wife Louise's steady influence and good judgment have helped guide his success. When they met on a blind date, Louise was a 19-year-old art student in Albuquerque, N.M. Their mutual attraction was immediate and lasting. "She is probably the most significant thing that has ever occurred to me, and, after almost 60 years of marriage, there is no diminishing of that fact."
A praiseworthy and prolific artist in her own right, Louise McCall works in a decidedly different niche than her husband. Her impressionistic portraits and paintings of flowers in vases brighten the spacious rooms in the McCalls' lovely home. And, like her husband's, Louise McCall's work has become highly public. Several years ago the McCalls collaborated on a breath-taking stained glass project at their church, Valley Presbyterian in Scottsdale. The Reverend Dr. Larry Eaken, thc church's associate pastor, says that their contribution has been inspirational for his congregation. "Bob and Louise's work in our chapel has certainly provided a spiritually uplifting and joyous atmosphere for any of the numerous events held here," he comments, adding, "Regardless of anyone's religious persuasion, this is beautiful work that anyone can appreciate." More recently, Louise completed a major installation for the new Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare.
These days, the McCalls are busy with plans for a new Phoenix-area museum that will showcase a large portion of McCall's space-based art collection. The Robert McCall Museum is being planned as an 80.000 square-foot facility dedicated to space, space artistry and contemporary art, with more than 350 pieces documenting the history of space flight. "It's one of our biggest endeavors-a place of inspiration for young people," McCall says. The museum, which has a projected opening date of 2005, is tentatively planned to be located adjacent to the Challenger Space Science Center, in Peoria. There are also plans for it to contain a separate Smithsonian gallery showcase art treasures from America's national museum.
STELLAR FRIENDS
Of course, the McCall's socialize. "We get together with Hugh Downs and his wife, Ruth, from time to time," McCall says. "Hugh's a beloved friend of mine-such a gentle, kind, renaissance man. We seem to relate to the same things."
Another close Friend and neighbor, Jan Evans, is the widow of Navy Captain Ron Evans, who was Command Module Pilot for the U.S. Apollo 17 space mission, which touched down on the moon in 1972. Ms. Evans recalls that she and her husband met the McCalls in 1967. "I just love 1 both of the McCalls. To me, Bob is a very forthright, giving and caring individual. He's always just very helpful, and caring and very available."
There's little time for the McCalls to slow down, it seems. They just returned from a trip to Ireland and London with their two daughters and one of their grandsons in tow. From all indications, it appears that life - whether it's in Paradise Valley or a galaxy far, far away - is very good.