Note
Born in Hawaii in 1957, Stephen Scott Young spent most of his early life travelling through the United States, eventually settling in Florida where he studied printmaking at the Ringling School of Art and Design. Young first discovered the Bahamas in 1981 while visiting his wife's family in Nassau. There, he was impressed by the crisp, bright light and unique culture of the islands, which he decided to capture through watercolors, whose delicacy and acute sense of detail are reminiscent of the work of Childe Hassam (1859-1935), Winslow Homer (1836-1910) and Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) to an extent.
The present work (set in Charleston) and the following, lot 38 (set in the Bahamas) are both striking in their realistic and eloquent simplicity: one is centered around the human figure as it depicts black Bahamians shooting marbles in a street, the other captures the Southern tranquility of a warm autumn day from a roof, the high-vantage point giving the impression of an endless sky with no human soul in sight.
According to the artist who wrote a detailed, long inscription on the back of the present work, this is "My very first painting depicting Mike and Betsy Dingman home in Charleston, the wonderful 'Sword Gates' house. A place steeped in history, that I could feel especially as I stood and did drawings on the balcony, looking at this fabulous view of Charleston , likes so many others must enjoyed over the passing of time." He adds: "Notice the time on the clocks. It is 11:40 am and this is how the light looks in the first week of October on a sunny morning. The painting was executed, especially in the tiny details, using a magnifying glass. To fully appreciate the details a glass is needed, I had such fun doing the Venetian blinds and the little flags and chimneys etc."

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Lot 37

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