Raymond A. Whyte

Raymond A. Whyte (August 3, 1923 – April 9, 2003) was a surrealist artist known for trompe l’oeil, still life, fantasy paintings, and portraits with surreal elements.

He was a popular artist of New York City financial executives and art collectors in the 1950s and 1960s, including B. Gerald Cantor, Malcolm Forbes and R. McLean Stewart.

[2] He moved to New York City as a child and attended Dewitt Clinton High School in Lower Manhattan, along with B. Gerald Cantor, who would later become a friend and frequent patron of Whyte's artwork.

Whyte attended the University of Toronto, then served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and later, the Royal Canadian Air Force as a navigator.

[5]He apprenticed under Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Louis Bouché, Robert Brackman, Frank Vincent DuMond, Vaclav Vytlacil and Will Barnet.

[12] In 1975, two of Whyte's paintings, The Girl In the Yellow Shirt and The Violin, were shown at the opening of the Benedict Art Gallery in Madison, New Jersey.

[6]On September 11, 2001, five of Whyte's artworks, including a large triptych depicting B. Gerald Cantor and wife Iris and another that told the story of the history of Cantor-Fitzgerald, were destroyed in the terrorist attacks.

Raymond A. Whyte
Eve (oil on canvas) by Raymond A. Whyte. The trompe l’oeil technique was often used by Whyte in depicting many different subjects.
Check Mate (1980) Oil on Canvas
Portrait of Robert McLean Stewart (1961) Whyte was commissioned for Portraits earlier in his career, and was known for later adding surreal and trompe l’oeil elements.
Maiden and The Knight , Surrealist Landscape, oil on canvas, circa 1963. Whyte's depictions of medieval knights, women and animals were recurring motifs of his work.
Wrapped in Clouds (1977) Whyte later experimented with tromp l'oeil techniques that incorporated the sky and other backgrounds to interact with the subject.
Portrait of Erica (oil on board) Whyte's wife Erica was often employed as a subject for portrait ideas and figure drawing.