Scarborough, Joe: Incident on Crecy Street
27.5in. x 29.25in.
oil on canvas
HGH comments: This work was purchased just before Joe Scarborough had made an intriguing deal with his home town of Sheffield. The city had signed a contract to employ him, meaning that everything he painted belonged to the city for one year. This is a wonderful idea, because the city will have a meaningful collection of his work. Perhaps more cities should take the opportunity of supporting their artists and preserve the art of their heritage in this manner.
“Fight at the Wedding” is not the first Scarborough in my collection, yet it is the only one. I traded my first purchase, a smaller, less detailed work, for this larger, more important piece. The more you look at “Fight at the Wedding”, the more you see. There are so many pockets of action throughout, dozens of happenings. There are also umpteen advertising billboards. One can also notice that the physical shapes of the participants in this scene are of a very high caliber, making this a valuable piece in my collection.