Artist Spotlight | Andrew Fitzpatrick

This May’s Artist Spotlight features Andrew Fitzpatrick. Known for his pensive canvases of Glasgow interiors such as the Kelvingrove and the Mackintosh library at the GSA, Andrew’s detailed  compositions are always a favourite for bidders at McTear’s. Pictures Specialist Makenzie Cool interviewed Fitzpatrick to get an insight into his artistic roots and inspirations and his life outside of painting.  
 

Q: When did you first begin to paint? 

Fitzpatrick: I began painting while I was in school. 

 

Q: When did you develop your distinctive style? 

Fitzpatrick: Probably in my last year at Glasgow School of Art (1988). 

 

Q: Who were or are your artistic influences? 

Fitzpatrick: Degas would be one of the main ones and when I was at art school, Steven Conroy’s work at the time inspired me to attempt my own figure compositions. 

 

Q: What is your favourite dessert? 

Fitzpatrick: Vanilla ice cream 

 

Q: What is your favourite beverage? 

Fitzpatrick: Coffee 

 

 

Q: What is your favourite place in Scotland? 

Fitzpatrick: Lunderston bay, between Gourock and Inverkip. 

 

Q: Is there a medium you would like to work with but haven’t yet tried? 

Fitzpatrick: Egg tempera sounds like a challenge. 

 

Q: What other interests do you have outside painting? 
Fitzpatrick: I was fascinated by Argentine tango for a long time but that came to a halt during the pandemic. 

 

Q: What is your favourite item of clothing? 

A.I have a Yves San Laurent jacket I haven’t ruined. 

 

Q: What is the one painting by someone else you wish you had done yourself? 

Fitzpatrick: Velazquez’s painting of Pope Innocent X. When I saw it in Rome It was like a living presence. 

 

 

Q: What is your favourite painting you have done yourself? Did you keep it for yourself?  

Fitzpatrick: One I did keep was of my partner and son when he was just a week or two old. It wasn’t meant to be a personal family one but about how utterly helpless a new-born must feel. 

 

Q: What is your favourite holiday? 

Fitzpatrick: Italy, especially Venice. 

 

Q: If you could choose someone to play you in a film, who would you choose? 

Fitzpatrick: Hugh Grant. 

 

Q: What are you proudest of in life/ what is your greatest accomplishment ? 

Fitzpatrick: When you do a painting that you have put a lot into and someone likes it enough to want to acquire it, that’s a good feeling 

Q: Who is your favourite artist? 

Fitzpatrick: Hard to say!  

 

Q: If you didn’t paint what would you want your career to be? 

Fitzpatrick: Astronaut, maybe. 

 

Q: How much did you sell your first picture for? 

Fitzpatrick: I did a woman’s portrait, oil on board for £20,while I was still at school. She hung it directly above her gas fire and it sort of melted and I had to do it again for her. 

 

Q: Are your figures based on / inspired by someone specific or are they made up? 

Fitzpatrick: My figures are all based on someone specific, usually people I know or a model but they can be fictionalised for the purpose of a painting. 

 

Q: Tea or coffee? 

Fitzpatrick: Coffee in the morning. 

 

Q: If you could choose to meet any artist or person from history who would it be? 

Fitzpatrick: Venetian painter, Giorgione. 

 

Q: What is your favourite book? 

Fitzpatrick: I,Claudius by Robert Graves 

 

Q: What is your favourite time of the day? 

Fitzpatrick: Between 9-10am, usually the first hour in the studio. 

 

 

Q: What are you currently reading? 

Fitzpatrick: Tiepolo Pink by Roberto Calasso. 

 

Q: Do you have any advice ,art related or not you would give your younger self? 

Fitzpatrick: Always carry a sketchbook and pencil. 

 

Q: Do you speak any languages other than English? 

Fitzpatrick: Not sure I can even speak English. 

 

Q: Favourite sports team? 

Fitzpatrick: No.  

 

Q: If you could paint one thing for the rest of your life ,what would it be? 

Fitzpatrick: A human face. 

 

 


 

Click here to view the full auction catalogue. >>

Makenzie Cool

 

For a complimentary, no-obligation on Scottish contemporary art, please contact our specialists on 0141 810 2880 or auction@mctears.co.uk.

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