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Lot 100
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John McCrady (American/New Orleans, 1911-1968)
John McCrady (American/New Orleans, 1911-1968)
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Description:

John McCrady (American/New Orleans, 1911-1968), "It's a Big World - Oxford", c. 1963-65, carbon acrylic on board, signed lower right, titled lower left, artist label with title en verso, 22 in. x 30 in., original artist-enhanced frame. Provenance: Descended in the family of the artist. Note: Raised in Oxford, Mississippi, John McCrady had a profound connection with the city and often included its buildings in his paintings, particularly those around Historic Oxford Square, the location of Lafayette Courthouse. Although the original square was destroyed during the Civil War, the new courthouse, which was constructed in 1872, and the buildings around it were quickly rebuilt. In the foreground of the painting offered here, "It's a Big World - Oxford," McCrady and his wife, Mary Basso McCrady, peruse a street vendor's wares on the courthouse lawn while a small child pauses in his play. It was not uncommon for McCrady to paint self-portraits or place himself in a scene that he was creating. Self-portraiture was an important part of McCrady's oeuvre; he felt that by including his own likeness, as well as those of the people around him, he was adding a psychological aspect to his work, as well as imbuing it with a part of his soul. McCrady painted many scenes of Oxford Square, including “Town Square, Oxford,” (which was destroyed in a fire), “Rural Symposium,” “The Square,” “The Courthouse,” “The Citadel,” (which features Lafayette Courthouse), “Political Rally,” (sold in these rooms October 11, 2008), and “Metamorphosis,” (sold in these rooms October 4, 2003). Additionally, in his 1964 work, “The Golden Rule,” McCrady featured a specific store from the Square, in this case a bargain store whose name is the title of the piece. Similarly, in the current lot, a crowd can be seen at 114 Courthouse Square - the location of Shaw and Sneed Hardware Store. This work can be dated to between the years 1963, when McCrady began his experimentation with the carbon acrylic method, and 1965, when the hardware store changed its name to Sneed's Ace Hardware. Although the company, which is still run by descendants of the original owners, Parham Shaw and Payne Sneed, has since expanded into a larger building only a few blocks away, the original building at 114 Courthouse Square still exists. The three arched windows remain intact just as McCrady painted them. The space occupied by John and Mary McCrady, the child, and the vendor in the foreground, remains in use as a market on the first and third Saturday of every month. As such, McCrady has provided us with a slice of life in the 1960s that continues to resonate today. Ref.: Marshall, Keith. John McCrady: 1911-1968. New Orleans: Franklin Printing Co., 1975; Farris, Teresa Parker. City on a Hill: John McCrady’s Oxford, Mississippi. University of Mississippi Master of Arts Thesis, 2005.

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January 27, 2018 10:00 AM CST
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