Hugh Auchincloss Steers (1963-1995). Red Curtain I, II, III (triptych), 1989. Oil on paper. 12-1/2 x 11-1/8 inches (31.8... (Total: 3 Items)

Description

Hugh Auchincloss Steers (1963-1995)
Red Curtain I, II, III (triptych), 1989
Oil on paper
12-1/2 x 11-1/8 inches (31.8 x 28.3 cm) (each sheet)
Each signed, titled, dated, and numbered sequentially out of 3 on the reverse: Red Curtain / Hugh Steers '89

LITERATURE:
B. Schroder and K. Kelly, eds., Hugh Steers: The Complete Paintings, 1983-1994, New York, 2015, p. 211, no. CR291A-C, illustrated.

We wish to thank Carl George, close friend of Hugh Steers, for providing the following essay:

Hugh Steers and I met in the mid-1980s while working freelance for one of New York's premier florists and party planners and immediately became best friends. The job provided each of us with rent money and the means with which to make our art - Hugh's, painting and drawing, and mine, film and collage. One day, Hugh told me that he had found a wonderful apartment on Avenue A in the East Village - a railroad flat directly above a pizza parlor. Windows wide open to the noise of the street and the smells of hot pizza wafting throughout the apartment - he didn't mind, he was in heaven. During this time, he was making primarily small oil on paper paintings depicting intimate moments between men in simple domestic settings. He loved the work of Bonnard, Vuillard, Ingres, Mantegna, and Tintoretto, and these influences are evident in the deep, rich colors he used, the draping of fabric, the slant of the light as if it were to summon back time, a depression-era bathtub or an overturned wooden chair. When he did work on large canvases, usually propped up on a huge wooden easel in the kitchen, the proportion and scale of the finished work - a result of the cramped quarters- oftentimes gave the paintings a wonderfully warped perspective. He worked diligently on getting perspective just so - laboring over a pair of legs or outstretched arm until he'd call and excitedly exclaim that he'd finally gotten it right. I was the first person to buy Hugh's work. I especially loved those small oil on paper works and bought several of them over time. I'd pay him, and then, with an insouciance that defined the time, we'd blow the money at a neighborhood gay bar drinking martinis - him vodka and me gin. The artworks, including this triptych, Red Curtain I, II, and III, thus became known as the "martini suite."

One day, Hugh shared the horrible news that he was infected with HIV. It was happening all around us, every day, and we all waited in fear to see if our turn would be next. He was resolute and determined to forge ahead, keep painting, and take whatever treatments were available to combat the disease. There weren't many. He shifted his focus and addressed the spiraling epidemic through his art by depicting images of bravery and tenderness, humor and rage. A lot to manage for a 30-year-old guy, especially as his own health rapidly deteriorated. Ultimately, like so many others, it was a fight he too would lose.

Hugh Steers died March 1, 1995, with his brother Burr, his friend Hyun Mi Oh and me surrounding his bedside, holding his hands and speaking softly to him. After having fought so hard and for so long, he slipped away with one long, last breath releasing his gentle soul into the world. Joseph Campbell said, "The seat of the soul is there, where the inner and outer worlds meet." Hugh, as a vibrant and hopeful young man and as a burgeoning, brilliant artist, exemplified this idea better than anyone I've known.

Carl George
Detroit, 2023


More information about Hugh Auchincloss Steers. See also: Steers, Hugh Auchincloss Artist.

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