Daniel Whiteknact was born and raised in Boston. From an early age, he was interested in art and music, inspired by his uncle in Madrid, an amateur artist. He studied drafting at Don Bosco Technical High School in Boston, illustration at the Massachusetts College of Art and later attended the Boston Academy of Realist Art. Whiteknact was then introduced to Thomas R. Dunlay. What appealed to Whiteknact about Dunlay’s teaching was the emphasis on the pursuit of truth and beauty working only in natural light; studying and working directly from nature, developing elegant line and form. Equally important was Dunlay’s link to the tradition of the Boston School of Painters and his teacher, R. H. Ives Gammell.
Whiteknact believes that capturing beauty in this manner is our contribution to humanity, a legacy worth preserving. “It is my privilege and duty to celebrate and showcase this marvelous tradition so that we bring excitement and joy to future generations of painters, collectors, and admirers.”
Whiteknact’s oeuvre includes landscapes, still life, figures, and portraits. He has won numerous awards including the Glenn G. MacNutt award for Boston School Painting from the Guild of Boston Artists; two Excellence in Oils Awards from the Academic Artists Association, and was a finalist in the Almenara Art Prize for Still Life in Cordoba, Spain. He has exhibited at the Rockport Art Association & Museum National Juried Shows and the Oil Painters of America National Exhibition. He is a member of the Guild of Boston Artists.
He now resides north of Boston with his wife and two sons and enjoys traveling to paint throughout the United States and Europe where he can be found painting both rustic and majestic settings.
“My painting is mimesis and replication of what I see in nature.”