Title: Ray H

Medium: Watercolor on Paper

Year of Work: 1983

Dimensions: Unframed 11.4" x 9.8" Framed 17.25" x 15.25"

Provenance: Purchased from the artist directly at Joan Ling Gallery, Gainesville FL

Artist Bio

Stephen Scott Young, noted for his watercolors, was born in 1957 and lives adjacent to Jonathan Dickinson State Park near Palm Beach County, Florida. Young's interest in art was perhaps motivated by picture books given to him by his mother, depicting the works and styles of 'Old Masters' Vermeer and Caravaggio. After graduating from high school, Young spent three years studying printmaking at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida. He began to work in watercolor around 1976, with his style maturing in the 1980's. In 1985, Young won a first prize at an American Artist's national art competition in watercolors. The large size of his paintings lends added dimension and realism, and he often incorporates bright and clear colors.

His work has at times been compared with that of Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth, and Thomas Eakins. Young and Homer's subject matter is very similar; both making the Bahamas a primary venue for painting, as well as opting for black models as subjects. Collectors often hang his works beside those of the great realists of the 19th-century. Young has even made 'virtual' recreations of some of Homer's work. In the early 1980's, Young made his first visit to the Bahamas and was impressed by the crisp, bright light of the islands. It took Young about five years to be satisfied with his rendering of such light onto paper.

His watercolor painting, "The Tournament", was sold at a 1998 Christie's auction, making Young perhaps the youngest living artist to have paintings included at a Christie's auction. Young completes less than twenty paintings a year.

Source: Askart Archives