Monday, October 1, 2018

Hugh Auchincloss Steers

(12 June 1962 – 1 March 1995)


 1 Crows 1988

Tribute to El Greco 1988

White Shirt and tie 1988

 3 White Shirt and tie 1988

I was first introduced to Hugh Steer’s work by Jack Waters and Peter Cramer, friends in common.  I never met Mr Steers.  His work owes an obvious debt to Pierre Bonnard and his hot intimist vision, but Steer’s vision is unambiguously Queer.  He attended Hotchkiss in northwestern CT, a very exclusive prep school, where he was known as something of a prodigy, and received his undergraduate degree from Yale and graduate degree from Skowhegan in Maine.  Though he came from privilege he mostly benefited from it only in his education.  While he was very much connected to the Lower East Side Scene of the 1980s he never achieved the recognition of Straight male painters, like Duncan Hannah and Walter Robinson (both of whose work I happen to love).  He died from the effects of HIV and its treatments in 1995.  The paintings reproduced above and below are placed, top to bottom, in chronological order and were painted between the years 1988 and 1993.  Interestingly, the only female figure I found depicted on a recent search was one in the act of learning or practicing self defense.

5 Showers II 1990  

6 Door to Tub 1990

7 Shadow Box II 1991

8 Futon Couch 1991

9 Bath Curtain 1993

10 Mr Coffee 1993

11 Pockets 1993

12 Hospital Bed 1993

No comments:

Post a Comment