ROY CARRUTHERS (American, 1938-2013) HUGE OIL ON CANVAS / SIGNED & DATED/ LARGER-THAN-LIFE COUPLE
This imposing and quirky oil on canvas painting of "The Couple" is by the well known contemporary artist Roy Carruthers. Dimensions are 6' tall by 4'10-1/2" wide, framed, and 5'3" high by 4'-1/2" wide sight size. Signed and dated 1999 lower right, Carruthers has left it up to the viewer to imagine what's going on here. Strange details such as the the subjects' six fingers and the oddly proportioned heads and figures are characteristic Carruthers.
Roy Carruthers, international artist, award-winning illustrator and graphic designer for more than five decades, was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa on December 14, 1938. He attended Technical College Art School there, winning its bronze medal in 1956. He has had solo exhibitions around the world ranging from Puerto Rico to South Africa and has participated in group shows throughout Europe and the United States.
Carruthers moved from London, England to Old Greenwich, CT, in 1968 and commuted to New York City for many years to work as an art director in the advertising industry, then as a commercial illustrator in the early 1970s. He decided to pursue a full time career as a fine artist in 1974.
A return to the advertising world in the mid-1980s brought him acclaim as Senior Vice President/Senior Art Director at Ogilvy & Mather, Inc., for his work on the Seagram's account. He relocated first to Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY, in 1991. Deciding to work independently, he started his own advertising and graphic design firm there, moving it to Astoria, Queens, in 1997.
His signature style of larger-than-life figures with multiple fingers and vibrant colors painstakingly painted in oil on canvas appeared in exhibitions throughout Europe, South Africa and the United States. In 1998 he moved to Florida, initially to Ponte Vedra Beach. That year marked his resurgence as a painter and sculptor, with a sold-out one-man exhibition at Coplan Gallery in Boca Raton, FL. He settled in Palm Coast, FL, in 2002, where he continued making art works until 2008, when his health declined. Carruthers passed away peacefully after a long illness at Flagler Pines Nursing Center in Bunnell, FL, on Friday, May 3, at the age of 74.
