Francis, 1991.

Gouache on paper.

Signed and dated on the bottom right, "Cornelius McCarthy '91"; Titled on the verso, "Francis".

11 1/2 x 15 1/2 in (29.2 x 39.4 cm).

Notes:

Cornelius McCarthy (1935-2009) was born in 1935 in East London, to a working-class family of mixed Irish Catholic and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. McCarthy was raised within the Catholic Church and drew great inspiration from the works of the Italian Old Masters, such as Raphael and Michelangelo.

Throughout the 1960s, McCarthy’s artistic career would begin in earnest, and he was a regular exhibiting artist at the now-famous Whitechapel Gallery. During this time, McCarthy was greatly influenced by the many artists that featured in Whitechapel’s exhibitions and retrospectives, including Pablo Picasso and, most notably, the Neo-Romantic painter Keith Vaughan. Similar to Vaughan, McCarthy placed a strong focus on light and color planes as they adhere to the male body, abstracting his figures while still maintaining a basis in academic form and anatomy.

McCarthy’s oeuvre constitutes an important part of the London East End’s historic art scene, and McCarthy himself is considered a canonical figure in the history of British homoerotic art. McCarthy’s work is now held in museums, archives, and private collections around the world, including the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, Adonis Art International, and the Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives.

Pastel residue on verso; Nothing adverse to note on recto.

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