Lot 138
STEPHEN CONROY (SCOTTISH 1964-) §
STUDY FOR 'FIGURE STUDY' - 2011
Auction: 12 August 2026 from 10:00 BST
Description
Signed and dated to backboard, oil on board
Dimensions
103cm x 102cm (40.5in x 40in)
Footnote
Stephen Conroy is a Scottish painter and leading member of the New Glasgow Boys. Born in 1964, Conroy studied at the Glasgow School of Art between 1982-7. He quickly gained recognition and achieved considerable success before beginning his post-graduate study. In 1986 his degree show sold out and he also won the first prize for painting at the Royal Academy's British Institute Fund Awards. Conroy was the youngest artist included in the notable Vigorous Imagination exhibition Edinburgh in 1987. Two years later he also held a solo exhibition at Marlborough Fine Art in London. His work appears in a number of collections around Britain and abroad, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Portrait Gallery in London and Edinburgh.
Study for 'Figure Study' is a compelling and absorbing portrait. Conroy's isolated figure set against a stark background echoes the work of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. However, Conroy diverges from their fleshy and raw style, making it his own. Conroy's portrait confronts and reinterprets the history of European portraiture through his focus on the single isolated figure and simple yet intriguing narrative.
