CHARLES MICHAEL BRADY HRHA American / Irish, 1926-1997 Pigeon Resting Oil on paper. Oil on Paper. Signed in pencil lower right. Framed. Not examined out of frame. Included in the lot is an unverified black-and-white photo of the artist in his studio. Sight: 13.5 x 10 inches; frame: 20 x 17 inches $2,000-3,000
ARTIST PROFILE: Charles Brady (1926–1997) was a pivotal figure in the Irish art scene, uniquely bridging the worlds of New York Abstract Expressionism and Irish figurative painting. Born in Manhattan, he served in the US Navy during World War II before training at the Art Students League under John Groth and Morris Kantor. While working as a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the early 1950s, Brady became a familiar face in the New York avant-garde, carousing with the likes of Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline. However, seeking a more tranquil life, he moved to Ireland in 1956 and settled there permanently in 1959. Over time, he abandoned his early expressionist style in favor of a "spare, almost mystical" minimalism, becoming famous for his intimate, small-scale paintings of mundane objects—such as bus tickets, envelopes, and matchboxes—and hazy landscapes of the Irish coast. A founding member of the Independent Artists group and a long-time lecturer at the National College of Art and Design, Brady was eventually elected an honorary member of the Royal Hibernian Academy, leaving behind a legacy of works that transform the everyday into profound aesthetic experiences.
