1952 Born in Perth, Ontario, Canada
1974 B.F.A. York University, Toronto
1975 B.Ed. University of Toronto
1978 B.A. York University, Toronto
Exhibitions
2004 Melville McLean: Recent Work, Alexandre Gallery, New York
2004 Realism Now: Traditions and Departures Mentors and Protégés, The Vose Gallery, Boston,
(Neil Welliver’s protégé)
2003-04 Melville McLean’s Landscapes: Nature in Isolation, The Michael Berger Gallery, Pittsburgh
2003 Time and Space: Recent Photographs, Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, Florida
2003 Melville McLean: Northeast by Southwest, The University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor, Maine; traveled to Maine Center for Contemporary Art, Rockport, Maine
2002 Melville McLean: Recent Photographs—Northeast by Southwest, Alexandre Gallery, New York
2002 Summer Landscapes, Alexandre Gallery, New York
2002 Group Show, Round Top Center for the Arts, Damariscotta, Maine
2001 Far as the Eye Could See, Stark Gallery, New York
2001 Local Color: Six Contemporary Photographers, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine
2001 Past, Present and Future: 50-Year Anniversary Exhibition, Maine Center for Contemporary Art, Rockport, Maine
2000 New Found Land, Stark Gallery, New York
2000 Photographing Maine 1950-2000, Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, Maine
1998-99 Natural Lighting: Landscape Photographs, The Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine
1998 15th Annual Juried Maine/Maritime Flatworks Exhibition, The University of Maine at Presque Isle, Maine
1998 Bettinson and McLean: Images from the Porter Preserve, Mathias Fine Art Gallery, Trevett, Maine
1998 When Pixels Replace Paint, Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, Maine
1997 The Juried Show: Maine Debuts Since 1979, Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, Maine
1996 19th Annual Juried Exhibition, Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, Maine
1995 18th Annual Juried Exhibition, Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, Maine
1995 A Closer Look, University of Maine at Orono Museum of Art, Orono
Selected Bibliographic Notes
Scott, Gail, “Melville McLean: Recent Work”, exhibition essay, New York: Alexandre Fine Art, Inc., 2004.
McQuaid, Cate, “ ’Mentors’ Exhibit Overflows, Overwhelms,” The Boston Globe, June 25, 2004, p. C16.
Jarzombek, Nancy Allyn, Ed., O’Hern, John D., Realism Now: Traditions and Departures Mentors and Protégés, exhibition catalogue, 2004, Vose Galleries Inc., Boston
Keyes, Bob, “The Future of Photography.” Maine Sunday Telegram, March 7, 2004
Kelly, Geoff, “Nature in Isolation: Paintings by Neil Welliver and Photographs by Melville McLean,” Two Solo Shows, Pulp: Pittsburgh’s Source for News, Arts & Entertainment, January1, 2004.
Isaacson, Philip, “Hamilton’s Improvisations Enchant; McLean’s Landscape Photos Elate” Maine Sunday Telegram, August 17, 2003, p. 2E.
Pracht, Melissa, “From Here to Eternity and Back: Melville McLean.” The St. Augustine Record, August 15, 2003
Keyes, Bob, “15 Photographers Who Are Leading the Way,” The Portland Maine Telegam, March 7, 2004, p. 5E.
Keyes, Bob, “Putting You There,” Portland Press Herald, May 25, 2003, pp.1E, 5E.
Douglas, Sarah, “Melville Mclen: recent photographs: northeast by southwest Alexandre Gallery,” The Art Newspaper, no. 129, October 2002, p. 5.
Johnson, Kenneth, “Melville McLean,” The New York Times, October 18, 2002, p. E39.
Naves, Mario, “Focusing on Nature’s Sweep: Vast Images of No Man’s Land,” The New York Observer, October 14, 2002.
Heaton, Lawrence, “Melville McLean’s Landscapes,” Melville McLean Recent Photographs: Northeast by Southwest, exhibition catalogue, New York: Alexandre Fine Art, Inc., 2002.
Reef, Pat, “True Colors,” Lewiston Sun Journal, April 14, 2001, pp. 1D-3D.
Isaacson, Philip, “‘Local Color’ One Small Step on Road to Equality with B&W,” Maine Sunday Telegram, April 1, 2001, p. 2E.
Beem, Edgar Allen, “Surface of Art, Surface of Earth”, Photo District News, April 2001, pp. 144-146.
Beem, Edgar Allen, “The Ascendancy of Photography as Art,” Maine Times, March 22, 2001, p. 22.
Gallant, Aprile, Local Color: Six Contemporary Photographers, Portland Museum of Art, exhibition catalogue, 2001, pp. 6-8.
Brown, B., Chandler, J., and Shettleworth, E. Jr., Photographing Maine 1840-2000, exhibition catalogue, Maine Coast Artists, Rockport, Maine, 2000.
Isaacson, Philip, “Master Photographer of Fine Art Makes His Own Art,” Maine Sunday Telegram, October 25, 1998, p. 3E.
Isaacson, Philip, “Benchmark or Not, MCA Show Well Worth Seeing,” Maine Sunday Telegram, June 16, 1996, p. 6E.
Professional Positions
1987-1990
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Head of Photography
1985-1987
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana
Head of Photography
Selected Collections
Colby College Museum of Art
Farnsworth Art Museum
Fidelity Investments
Progressive Corporation