Focused on the West of the 1800s, McCarthy painted Native American subjects with an unmistakable focus on the connection between man and his environment. When he tackled an action scene, such as At The Rosebud, or the tense moments prior to confrontations, McCarthy’s attention to detail and unifying design elements such as towering clouds, looming rock promontories or stone-studded creek beds is legendary. McCarthy was a respected illustrator for periodicals and movie posters before moving into easel art in 1968. He was a member of the Cowboy Artists of America from 1975 to 1998 and had a 1984 retrospective at the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK. He is the subject of two books, The Western Paintings of Frank McCarthy (1974 Ballantine Books) and Frank C. McCarthy-The Old West (1981 Greenwich Workshop) and was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 1997.