Patrick Angus: A Brief Biography

When people think of American realism artists, there are certain names that might come to mind. Will Barnet, Paul Cadmus, Edward Hopper, John Augustus Walker, Grant Wood, etc. But one extremely prolific and talented artist involved in the social-realism movement, was Patrick Angus. Angus, a 20th-century painter, was widely regarded for his American Social-Realist paintings. His best-known works were the acrylic paintings he had done of the interior of the Gaiety Theater. His patrons were David Hockney, Douglas Blair Turnbaugh, and Robert B. Stuart. The American artist struggled to get his art into galleries, or exhibited throughout his lifetime, and ended tragically dying of AIDS at age 37. Since his death, there has been a resurgence of interest in Angus' insightful paintings, which depict urban gay men primarily in Los Angeles, Arkansas, and New York. His work featured erotic dancers at gay clubs, burlesque shows, and his work had drawn comparison to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, as well as other artists throughout the years. Angus' work has been put on display in parts of the United States, but also in Europe since the author's death in 1992.