Brian McCarthy (Irish painter, 1960)

"I was born in Dublin and as a child loved nothing more than drawing and painting. In 1976 I started selling my paintings in local galleries.

While I attended art college (1977-80), I found the pervasive avant garde ethos and the lack of technical training in painting very d...isappointing.

Like many other artists, I've learned my craft from what I consider to be the best sources - the great artists of the past. From a young age I read books about them and visited museums and galleries whenever I could.

I have always worked exclusively in oils, producing an average of about twenty five paintings a year. Irish exhibitions include 'The Living Art' at the Douglas Hyde Gallery (1981), several annual shows at the Royal Hibernian Academy, and the Oireachtas Art Exhibition as well as many group shows in commercial galleries both in Ireland and London.

< div style="text-align: justify;">My exhibition Masquerade, opened by the late Charles J. Haughey, sold out amid enthusiastic reviews".