STEPHEN CONROY (SCOTTISH 1964-) §
HEAD AND SHOULDERS, LOOK UP LEFT
£1,638
Contemporary Art // Prints & Multiples
Auction: Contemporary Art: 10 January 2024 | From 10:00
Description
Signed lower right, inscribed with title and numbered 3/4, pencil on acetate
Dimensions
48cm x 29cm (19in x 11.5in)
Footnote
Upon graduation from the Glasgow School of Art in 1987, Stephen Conroy famously ‘arrived’ on the art scene with a smash hit degree show. Throughout its history, the Glasgow School of Art has repeatedly been the epicentre of exciting new movements, from Mackintosh and the Spook School, to the New Glasgow Boys, Peter Howson, Steven Campbell, Ken Currie and Adrian Wiszniewski.
Conroy and his partner at that time, Alison Watt, impressed the art world with the maturity of their technique. Both worked in Glasgow figurative tradition and were exceptionally talented draughtsmen.
Whereas Howson, Currie and co. created confrontational, visceral depictions of masculinity, Conroy explored something altogether quieter and more enigmatic. His reference points were the Old Masters and charged, voyeuristic depictions of mundanity of Degas and Sickert.
The work offered here for sale is typical of his '90s output in which he explores gesture and movemen with exquisite subtlety. He isolates his expertly painted figures against a blank backdrop, disrupted frequently by a shock of colour, often this distinctive salmon pink. His typical subjects were male, and self-portraiture featured heavily within his practice.
Born in Helensburgh in 1964, Conroy continues to live and work in Scotland. His work can be found in some of the world’s major institutions including the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, The National Portrait Gallery, London, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.