Vincent Crotty

My paintings are inspired by light — and its ability to transform the ordinary into the sublime. I try explore the full range of what daylight and nighttime have to offer, tackling blinding sunshine, to absolute darkness, and every mood that exists in between those two extremes. Using layers of transparent paint, I try to create maximum depth and richness in a scene. As a plein air painter, I love to work outdoors with spontaneity and speed, and to harness happy accidents. Rather than vistas or panoramic scenes, I am often inspired by the true colors of urban street life, pub interiors, and other everyday scenes. I’ve been influenced by many different schools of thought in art, including the Ashcan School, Russian Impressionism, the Taos painters, Turner’s landscapes, and Rembrandt’s portraits, as well as my early trade-school training in sign painting and decorating, which gave me a great foundation in the practical aspects of applying paint efficiently. I immigrated to Boston in 1990 from my hometown of Kanturk, County Cork, Ireland, and since then, I find that returning home to Ireland is also a source of endless inspiration in my life and in my work.

Vincent Crotty is an Irish-born artist who has been living in Boston since 1990. Regarded for his landscapes, seascapes, nocturnes, and figurative paintings, he paints with fluid and vigorous brushstrokes, balanced by sensitive color. His paintings reveal a remarkable understanding of light — transforming everyday subject matter into images that are memorable and moving.

Painting from life as often as he can, Vincent’s plein air approach brings a feeling of energy and immediacy to his work. His paintings convey vivid moods and evocative depictions of time and place. Guided by intuition and a fearless playfulness with paint itself, Vincent expresses a unique vision in contemporary representational painting.

Vincent explores the places and faces of both Atlantic coasts as his primary subject matter. Inspired by the 20th Century Ashcan School, his paintings of Boston and New England celebrate the gritty corners of urban American life. In Ireland, he captures the silvery gleam of wet galvanized roofs, and bursts of sunshine illuminating a wild landscape.

Vincent has been exhibiting his work for over 35 years, with gallery shows in Ireland and throughout the US. His paintings has been recognized with awards from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the John Stobart Foundation, Plein Air Magazine, and juried art shows internationally.

Vincent has taught workshops in Colorado, Wyoming, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (Canada), Wexford (Ireland), and throughout Massachusetts. He’s a long-time faculty member at the Catskills Irish Arts Week in New York, and he currently teaches weekly classes at the New Art Center in Newton, Mass. He has given portrait demonstrations at the Harvard University Art Museums, and his portraits been commissioned by the Boston College Burns Library, the Irish Cultural Center of New England, the Michael J. Quill Cultural Centre in New York, and other organizations and private collections.

In addition, Vincent has created large-scale set designs for theater companies and touring productions including Atlantic Steps, Cork City Ballet, the Huntington Theater Company, Kieran Jordan Dance, A Christmas Celtic Sojourn, and his paintings were used on the set of the movie Mystic River.