N. Scott

BIO

Cantrell Gallery’s founding father is N. Scott (1939 – 2010)

N. Scott grew up in Crossett, Arkansas. He graduated from Ouachita Baptist University and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, and then he attended Law School at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. After N. Scott moved to Little Rock, he worked at several jobs, including, with the Arkansas State Purchasing Department where he was Assistant Purchasing Director. He always had a dream and vision of owning his own business and he already enjoyed creating art. This led him to open Art Fair, a very small gallery, on Seventh Street in Little Rock, in 1970. This is the business that grew into Cantrell Gallery, the area’s oldest art gallery. Scott’s love of creating art became an absolute passion, enabling him to invent an alter ego named Maurice. Other characters appearing in his art included Maurice’s friend Ms. Dupree, and Pierre the pit bull, among other recurring personas.

N. Scott had a colorful, mysterious, and oftentimes humorous personality. His only one-person exhibit during his lifetime was in 1997. The opening was a well-attended event at which he hired an actor to play the role of the artist instead of attending it himself.

Here is what N. Scott said about himself and his art work which should give you some insight into his quirkiness:

“N. Scott or ttoc.N (they are the same) started painting at 3 days, 14 hours, and 27 minutes after birth. After leaving a job with the State, I started to devote more of my time to drawing and painting. At first I would paint and throw it all away. This went on for several years. Then, an artist friend of my wife told her to stop me from throwing everything away. She said that it was time to start showing it our gallery. Since then, she has sold about 500 paintings and drawings. I am a prolific, but near esoteric resident artist at Cantrell Gallery of Little Rock. I style myself as the only member of the ‘Auto Outsider’ ”