THE ART OF FRANK MCCARTHY

Witnessing a Wild West show as a young boy was a crucial early influence that led Frank McCarthy to become a distinguished painter of Western historical themes. The excitement and emotion he felt that day stayed with him, and can be seen in the vivid action, color, and splendor that emanate from his paintings.

- Daniel Zimmer

EARLY DAYS

Frank C. McCarthy was born in New York on March 30, 1924. During his first four years in Mount Vernon, New York, he learned to ice skate and swim, and even crafted and painted lead soldiers. A Wild West show featuring real Indians, cowboys, and stagecoaches captivated him. In 1929, his family moved to Scarsdale, New York, which was still a small town in those days.

Despite the challenging economic times, there was enough construction happening for McCarthy and his friends to find scrap lumber to build tree houses. As these flimsy constructions were frequently discovered by the property owners, the tree houses were regularly torn down… just to be rebuilt over and over again. McCarthy decorated the tree house walls with drawings he copied from his favorite comic strips, such as “Flash Gordon” and “Buck Rogers.”

A progressive grammar school allowed him to pursue his passion for drawing and painting from an early age. His dinosaur drawings on the floor of his third grade classroom became so large and numerous that they pushed his teacher and classmates into a corner of the room. McCarthy also found early inspiration in Scribner’s classics like Robin Hood and Treasure Island, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth.

Living near a polo club sparked his interest in horses. He photographed them from various angles and began to develop a knowledge of horses in action that would later become a striking feature in his work.