Born in Hawaii, Stephen Scott Young spent most of his early life traveling around the United States. Young eventually settled in Florida where he attended the Ringling College of Art and Design. He has devoted his career to depicting the southern United States and the Bahamas. The crisp, bright light of his studio in the Bahamas is now considered to be a hallmark of his paintings.
Known for his watercolor paintings, Stephen Scott Young is inspired by works of Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, and Andrew Wyeth. He paints highly finished, detailed figurative subjects with a strikingly realistic use of watercolor in the American realist tradition. Collectors and fellow artists alike recognize his work for its exceptional drawing, disciplined structure, and mastery of the watercolor process. His paintings consistently demonstrate control over transparency, edge, and value—hallmarks of true mastery in a demanding medium. His work reflects an appreciation for classical realism while remaining unmistakably contemporary. Each painting undeniably invites sustained viewing, revealing layers of subtlety and intention that continue to unfold over time.
Stephen Scott Young began working in watercolor in 1976. In 1985, he took first prize at the American Artists national art competition in watercolors. Young precedes each masterful watercolor with numerous drawings, sketches, studies, and preparatory paintings. In 2007, his painting, “Red Bows” sold at Sotheby’s for a record $348,000. This magnificent watercolor emphatically began a new level of acceptance for the artist’s work.
Young’s copperplate etchings evidence a strident attention to detail. The intricacy suggest the influence of Rembrandt and Whistler. The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts featured his etchings in the show, “A Master Among Us”. Young openly admits that his favorite pastime is the tedious and challenging craft of the etching.
His work exhibits contemporary issues as well as a hint of nostalgia. Art historian Henry Adams comparatively wrote of Young, “He is like one of those prospectors who has gone back to the tailings of an abandoned mine and where others saw only useless rocks found quantities of untapped, undiscovered gold.”
Stephen Scott Young’s watercolors are in the collections of several fine art museums:
Brandywine Museum
The Cleveland Museum of Art
The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
For more of Stephen Scott Young’s available works, please call the gallery at 423.266.4453.