the waiting room – ultrawolvesunderthefullmoon

Cornelius McCarthy, “The Waiting Room’, Date Unknown, Oil on Canvas

Born in Stepney, London, in 1935, Cornelius McCarthy was among the top painters of the male form working in the United Kingdom during the second half of the twentieth- century. Greatly influenced by the work of Pablo Picasso and Keith Vaughan, his own unique style makes his works instantly recognizable.

In 1950 Cornelius McCarthy entered Goldsmiths College School of Art, studying under Sam Rabin, who taught him the importance of line in defining form. His pursuit of art did not falter even during the time he was called to National Service for England; he continued drawing on whatever material was at hand, even military forms. After demobilization, McCarthy took a position at the Stepney Public Libraries where he met Alec Ayres, who would become his life-long partner.

After seeing the 1962 Keith Vaughan retrospective at the Whitechapel Gallery, McCarthy decided that painting the male nude was a subject to pursue. McCarthy conveyed his subjects as real men, strong and unapologetic in their private reveries. His work is characterized by a solid sense of composition and the use of still-life elements that often lends itself to Cubism.

Basically a retired man in 1997, McCarthy visited Mexico in search for inspiration. The artwork he produced there was included in a special “Mexico” exhibition in 1998 at the Adonis Gallery. McCarthy continued to exhibit works at this venue until 2007. when he began to experience increasing health problems, but still continued to paint.

Cornelius McCarthy died peacefully at his “Willow End” home on November 19th of 2009. Upon his death, Alec Ayres donated his sketchbooks, containing the sum total of McCarthy’s rough works, to the Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives in Bethnal Green, London.

Note: An inteesting read is McCarthy’s lide-long friend Peter Dobson’s 2015 illustrated book “Radiant Affinities: The Life and Work of Cornelius McCarthy”. It highlights the significant developments in McCarthy’s life and his sensibility to the male form in art.

George Tooker, “The Waiting Room”, 1959, Egg Tempera on Wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum

George Tooker grew frustrated with the bureaucracy while trying to obtain building permits for a house he bought in New York. He painted several images that show “faceless” government workers and run-down people getting nowhere. The clinical interior of “The Waiting Room” evokes the conformity of the 1950s and emphasizes the pale, drawn expressions on the figures.

The people stand in numbered boxes, evoking ideas of standardization that force people into predefined categories. The man on the left appears to be in charge of the “sorting,” creating a sinister view of government scrutiny.

“The Waiting Room is a kind of purgatory—people just waiting—waiting to wait. It is not living. It is a matter of waiting—not being one’s self. Not enjoying life, not being happy, waiting, always waiting for something that might be better—which never comes. Why can’t they just enjoy the moment?” -George Tooker