FRANK C. McCARTHY (1924- ) is a master technician and strong colorist whose pictures are always exciting to look at. He is a New Yorker who studied at Pratt Institute and at the Art Students League under George Bridgman and Reginald Marsh. He developed his talent early and was in his mid-twenties when he began to obtain illustrating commissions from American Magazine and Collier's. These were soon followed by Redbook, Argosy, True, Outdoor Life, and others, as well as a great many paperback cover assignments for Bantam Books, Signet, Dell, Avon, and Popular Library. In addition, he has done illustration for Ballantine Beer, Goodyear, Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, United Artists, Twentieth-Century Fox, and other advertisers.

In 1972, after twenty-seven years as an illustrator in the East, his transition to painting historical westerns for galleries was completed and in 1974, McCarthy moved to Arizona. He was invited to join the Cowboy Artists of America in 1975, showing his work with such great illustrators as John Clymer, Bob Loughood and Tom Lovell. He has won Certificates of Award by the Printing Industries of America for his limited edition prints published by Greenwich Workshop. Fine books have been published on his work, including the Western Paintings of Frank C. McCarthy in 1974, Frank C. McCarthy, the Old West in 1981, and The Art of Frank C. McCarthy in 1992.

Four retrospective shows of his paintings have been held: in the Museum of the Southwest of Midland, Texas; the R. W. Norton Art Gallery in Shreveport, Louisiana; The Thomas Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and the Cowboy Artists of America Museum in Kerrville, Texas.

McCarthy was elected into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 1997.

(This text originally appeared in "The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000", Society of Illustrators, 2001).

More articles:

August 1950 - "Introducing A New Junior Literary Guild Artist"
May 27, 1955 - "Collier's Credits" (by Jerome Beatty, Jr.)
circa 1972 - "With A Paint Brush Instead Of A Gun"
1974 - "Frank C. McCarthy" (by Frank C. McCarthy)
October 1976 - "Frank C. McCarthy" (by James K. Howard)
May 1981 - "A Visit With Frank McCarthy" (by Kay Mayer)
July 1981 - "Frank C. McCarthy" (by Piet Schreuders)
June 10, 1982 - "Cowboy Art" (by Stewart McBride)
July 1983 - "The Verde Valley - A Personal Profile" (by Frank Brothers)
July 1989 - "The 007' Files: Selling Bond" (by Stephen Rebello)
November 1989 - "Illustrators - Part 1: Movie Posters" (by Franz L. Brown)
October 17, 1990 - "McCarthy Paints For Visual Impact" (by Gail Arnold)
2001 - "The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000" (by Walt Reed)