JOHN SWAN

John Swan

 

John Swan was born and raised in Maine and studied at the University of New Hampshire. In the 1980s, Swan was painting local rural landscapes until he completed a fly-fishing painting that appeared on the cover of "Gray’s Sporting Journal." This early success with a sporting scene ensured that hunting and fishing subjects would be an integral part of Swan’s work in the years to come.  John was an extremely popular Maine artist who painted from his studio in the historic Stroudwater section of Portland as well as from his summer home in the Rangely Lakes.  John passed away in 2025.

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His paintings bring to life fishing and hunting trips over a wide range of places. “I paint wherever I can fish.” The result is spectacularly immediate works set in some of the world’s most beautiful and pristine destinations.  Based on firsthand experience, and often-created en plein air, Swan’s paintings are imbued with freshness.

Swan’s work has appeared regularly in publications such as The Atlantic Salmon Journal, Esquire Sportsman, Sporting Classics, and Wildlife Art. He has also illustrated numerous books including Joseph Bate’s classic Atlantic Salmon Fishing and Thomas McGuane’s anthology Live Water.