Thomas McKnight painting

by Dr. Lori Verderame

Thomas McKnight was born in Lawrence, KS in 1941. He graduated from the prestigious Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT and studied art in Paris. He went to graduate school at Columbia University in New York City, served in the U.S. Army in South Korea, and worked for Time Magazine for eight years. In 1972, McKnight moved to the island of Mykonos, Greece.

Throughout the 1980s, McKnight’s art–mainly limited edition serigraph prints–became increasingly popular. Watch Dr. Lori show you how to identify serigraph prints. McKnight produced original works of art, artist’s proofs, limited edition prints, etc. Many of his works were marketed by art galleries as portfolio sets. His work was widely collected and highly regarded. In 1994, McKnight was commissioned by the Clinton administration to paint the official White House Christmas card. Thomas McKnight’s work is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, and many other fine museums and private collections around the world.

What to Look For

McKnight print

McKnight’s subject matter and style are highly recognizable the world over. It is this well-known McKnight look that attracts buyers to his art and impacts the market for his art in a positive way. People pay good sums of money for McKnight’s art. Many McKnight works are highly detailed interior scenes or landscape vistas using bright colors, depictions of decorative objects, and strong black outlines.

Look for these attributes as well as the artist’s well-known signature which is typically only his last name. But remember, signatures are easily forged and is not the only indicator. Read more about forged signatures. Look for numbered prints in small editions with fewer than 250 prints for each print run and also look for artist’s proof prints that are offered in very small editions with fewer than 50 prints for each print run. Watch Dr. Lori show you how to identify a valuable print using its markings too. One of the most important tell-tale signs of an authentic and valuable Thomas McKnight print is the subject matter. There are fakes out there so don’t be fooled. Look for famous global landmarks as subject matter for McKnight. McKnight has been known to paint and make prints of such iconic images as New York City’s Central Park, the Eiffel Tower as well as cozy hunting cabin interiors and sights along the Aegean Sea, etc.

Get an online appraisal report of your Thomas McKnight work of art from Dr. Lori