Oil on canvas
40 x 25.4 cm
Royal College of Art, London, UK

Minton would have been, what, mid 30s when this portrait was done. In five years time he would be dead, by his own hand, and yet in that brief life he packed alot in. Kind of half forgotten today (though many would have witnessed his work as an illusrator without even knowing his name), he's remembered by many for this, a remarkable portait which captures the essence of the man. You can feel the angst around the whole painting, the angst which filled his life, seemingly, for this is a man not at ease with himself. Behind the eyes there is somehing dark, darker, thoughts deep and troubling, a place beyond calm and serenity. John Minton's was not a happy lot.

There's a remarkable biography about him first published in 1991 and then revised and reprinted in 2005. Entitled John Minton: Dance Till the Stars Come Down, a direct link to it @ amazon.co.uk is here

For those who know nothing about him, from the official blurb for the book is this:

'John Minton (1917-57) was an artist, a Bohemian and, in his own lifetime, a myth. During the 1940s and early 1950s he become a central figure within Soho, an intimate friend of, among many others, Michael Ayrton, Robert Colquhoun, Lucian Freud and the poet W.S. Graham. He enjoyed early success as a painter and was associated in the 1940s with the English Neo-Romantics. By the early 1950s he had become the most admired and influential illustrator of his day. Frances Spalding's sensitive account of Minton's life and work makes use of letters, articles and revue sketches by Minton himself, as well as many interviews with the artist's friends and acquaintances. She brings out the many conflicts within him, and shows how these were reflected in his art through its combination of romantic imagery and taut severities of style. His deep melancholy was for the most part kept hidden behind a euphoric generosity and a wild restlessness. But gradually, like his alcoholism, it became all-pervasive, and tragic and embittered he took his own life, aged thirty-nine. This new edition incorporates a new preface by the author and a new appendix featuring lists of public collections, exhibitions, illustrated books and book jackets, and a select bibliography. It will be widely welcomed by art historians, curators, dealers and all those interested in this fascinating period in British art and culture.'

The book is hardly a best seller but deserves to be. The more who are interested in him and his work the easier it will be to get his name back up in the stars - a feat that wihout this painting would be even harder to achieve.

Lucian Freud exhibition catalogues@ ebay.co.uk (direct link to items)

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