Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Spring 2008 - (Page 12) Arthur I & Arthur II, 1994-97, oil on canvas, 44 x 34 inches, [1998 New Orleans Triennial, New Orleans Museum of Art Private Collection] Thanks to a small inheritance received in 1990, I was able to purchase my studio building and substantially enlarge my work area. I began to invite individuals or couples to join my pantheon and sit for paintings or drawings in exchange for a portrait drawing. As these works were noncommissioned, I relieved myself of the burden of satisfying a paying customer. This gave me the freedom to approach the work empirically, and the opportunity to experiment. I invited art gallery owner Arthur Roger to sit. He came every Tuesday evening for two or three hours. He told me that although he sold art, he had never seen a painting made. The first painting studied Arthur in a shirt and tie, as he might appear in his gallery. We were nearing completion of this painting when he arrived one night in a tank top after a gym session. His skin looked like parchment. He explained that through exercise and diet he was reducing the fat under his skin to prepare for the Gay Body Building Competition coming up in New York’s Paramount Theatre, where he had won prizes. This was possibly his last chance to win another prize before he turned 40. Realizing his commitment to body building was as strong as his commitment to operating a successful gallery, I suggested the second painting. The pair of paintings make an allusion to the famous Goya masterpieces, the clothed and naked Maja. 12
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