Oil painting of a forest. There is a large tree on the right of the painting, with its branches and leaves extended across the whole piece.

Mike McDonnell was a Muskegon, Michigan based artist who studied art in both Chicago and New York. Initially receiving training in classical portraiture and working primarily with oil paints, it wasn’t long before McDonnell found his own style. The GVSU Art Gallery Collection has over 800 paintings in their permanent collection of McDonnel’s work. The span of imagery is vast, everything from portraits to Michigan landscapes, from snow covered barns to still life paintings with the most absurd arrangement of items. While oil paintings are part of the collection, the majority are vibrantly colored watercolors. McDonnell would have to apply multiple layers of watercolor paint to achieve the rich, vibrant and realistic images he painted. These later works emphasized his clean, precise and detailed style.