Talk:Stephen Conroy (disambiguation)

style of artwork
Tallmanbaby (talk) 12:31, 26 September 2010 (UTC)

this entry is a bit sketchy, I have some familiarity with his work, so might be helpful to put on record what sort of work he produces,

he came to public attention as part of the Vigorous Imagination exhibition that revitalised Scottish Contemporary art. However he was unlike many of the other artists in that his work was very detailed and traditional in style. The paintings featured young men in old fashioned clothing, in evocative settings. A bit like a more arty version of Vettriano.

I seem to remember hearing that he had a bad experience with an agent or something like that, and did not assume the high profile that some contemporaries did. He has however worked away steadily, there is a nice portrait by him in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (Edinburgh) but I suspect that most of his material is in private collections. If I could have anyone paint my portrait it would be Conroy.

I cannot see how he is influenced by Francis Bacon, fair enough if it is a quote from him, but stylistically they are poles apart. If I were to pick an earlier artist that is like Conroy it would be James Cowie, as they are both excellent figurative painters.

If I get a chance to do some proper research, rather than just talking off the top of my head, I might get back to update the page, but thought a few comments might be useful in the meantime as the existing entry does not really provide any indication of his style,