Graeme Baxter Biography

Graeme Baxter is one of the worlds most highly acclaimed golf painters of golfing landscapes. Graeme’s golf art is admired and prized internationally for it’s superb quality, depth of feeling , incredible detail and knowledge of the subject. Graeme is the official golf artist for the British Open, Ryder Cup, PGA and PGA European Tour, Solheim Cup, Presidents Cup, World Championship. His golf art paintings hang in famous clubhouses as far afield as the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers at Muirfield, St Andews Old Course, Scotland, Pine Valley, Cina, and Augusta National, home of the US Masters, treasured for Graeme’s unique ability to historically record golf landscapes and portraits that capture his passion for the game. He is collected by the likes of HRH Prince Andrew, HRH Prince Charles, Nick Price, Steve Elkington, Justin Leonard, Lee Janzen, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington.

Born in Scotland in 1958, it wasn’t long before Graeme realized he had a penchant for drawing, and he recalls that he not only had a natural talent but also shared a similar passion. A second love was for golf, which was borne out of watching his father play the game, honing his own game in the backyard by hitting into a practice net, plus watching with admiration some of the epic duels between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson in the British Open and the U.S. Open.

“Art came first, and the love of golf came second,” says Graeme, who went on to study at the Glasgow School of Art and who worked as a fine art dealer for nearly 10 years. It was his painting of the 17th hole at the Old Course at St Andrews that helped launch his career. When the painting was shown to Michael Bonallack, the Secretary of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, he remarked that it was one of the finest golf paintings he had ever seen. A second painting of the clubhouse at Turnberry, again well received, convinced Graeme of his career path.

While Graeme considers himself fortunate to be able to marry his two passions, art and golf into a profession, he takes his role of a “golf historian” seriously. “My goal is to record golf history through my paintings,” he says. “I like to be accurate but not photographically accurate. I am looking to find the heart of a golf course, grasp the many details and colors, and capture its key characteristics and natural feel.”

Since 2008, Graeme has been a member at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, which is home to the Kraft Nabisco Championship, one of the LPGA Tour’s majors and one of the many events for which he is the official artist. Though he plays to a 7 handicap at Mission Hills CC, Graeme laments his schedule doesn’t allow for more time on the course. But he isn’t complaining.

Graeme Baxter is the official artist to some of the world’s most important golf tournaments, such as The Ryder Cup, The Open Championship, The Presidents Cup and The Kraft Nabisco Championship, as well as artist to the PGA Tour and European Tour. He has painted the picture for the 2012 PGA Championship, to be held in August at Kiawah Island, S.C.

Graeme’s paintings, giclees and lithographs, are displayed in almost 40 countries. The low-volume editions, individual signings and celebrity collaborations add value, prestige and worldwide collectability to his work.