About Ray McCarty

As early as the age of five, McCarty began demonstrating his artistic talent. Raised in the mountains of northern Utah, his first paintings were sketches of the American West inspired in part by his outlaw ancestry, The McCarty Gang, partners in crime with Butch Cassidy.

As a young man, McCarty studied the great masters in Spain and France and his work began to show the distinct influence of Modigliani, Renoir, and Toulouse-Lautrec. Women in Victorian settings began to take precedence over the cowboys and Indians of his earlier western paintings. His experimentation for a brief period in nonobjective art provided the freedom of technique that contributed to his unique style.

Ray's dramatic use of line and color, along with foreshortening techniques make his work instantly recognizable. We can compare his vision with that of Toulouse-Lautrec in his treatment of the female face & form. McCarty uses live models in all of his portraits. His canvasses capture emotion in all of the many human palettes: proud and haughty, sensual and sexually confident, shy and humble, reflective and contemplative.