Hugh Auchincloss Steers (1962/1963 – March 1, 1995)

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Hugh Auchincloss Steers (b. 1962/1963 – March 1, 1995) was a painter whose work is in the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Walker Art Center, and the Denver Art Museum. He died of AIDS at the age of 32. He was the brother of filmmaker Burr Steers. He was the grandson of Hugh D. Auchincloss and Nina Gore. He was the half-nephew of both Gore Vidal and Jackie Kennedy.

Hugh Auchincloss Steers, a figurative painter, died on March 1, 1995, at the home of his cousin, Hugh D. Auchincloss Jr. He was 32 and lived in Manhattan.

The cause was AIDS, said his dealer, Richard Anderson.

Mr. Steers, who was born in Washington and studied at Yale University, painted in a style that mixed dreamlike allegory with Expressionist-tinged realism and incorporated art history references. In the last five years his work had increasingly dealt with AIDS. Many of his paintings showed single male figures, almost nude or in women's clothes, isolated in dark rooms; others depicted pairs of men bathing and dressing each other or embracing.

In his last works, shown at the Richard Anderson Gallery in the fall of 1994, Mr. Steers included a recurrent male figure that he regarded as a self-portrait. Dressed in a white hospital gown and white high heels, the figure entered the lives of other characters as both an avenging and a guardian angel.

His work is in the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the Denver Art Museum.









































Source: http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/04/obituaries/hugh-steers-32-figurative-painter.html

Further Readings:

Janet and Jackie: The Story of a Mother and Her Daughter, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis by Jan Pottker
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (November 1, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312302819
ISBN-13: 978-0312302818
Amazon: Janet and Jackie: The Story of a Mother and Her Daughter, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Despite hundreds of books and thousands of articles on Jackie Kennedy, surprisingly little is known about her mother's role in her life and achievements. Often dismissed as a social climber who faded into the woodwork after she divorced Jackie's father-the dashing, disreputable "Black Jack" Bouvier-and married the rich Hugh D. Auchincloss, Janet not only played a pivotal part in Jackie's own wedding to JFK, but often served as a stand-in for Jackie during the White House years, and helped her cope with John and Caroline after the assassination.

The only book to explore this fascinating mother-daughter relationship, Janet & Jackie is filled with stories that shed new light on the personal life of an American icon.

More Artists at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Art

Comments

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

I think he was, his paintings are like a bio of his life and so all the cats do mean something.