c.1965, acrylic on board, 33 cm wide x 42 cm tall
Russell O’Neil wrote The Devil’s Profession in 1963. A novel about a good-looking, narcissistic actor who will do anything to get a Hollywood contract, becoming his gay agent’s ‘kept boy’, despite being heterosexual. The image is painted in greys and lit starkly, as if by theatre spot lights; the foreground figure is depicted in an almost androgynous way. Homosexuality was not decriminalised in the U.K. until 1967.
The original painting art board is approximately 33 cm wide x 42 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.
