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    Queer Saint - The Cultured Life of Peter Watson
    Unavailable
    Queer Saint - The Cultured Life of Peter Watson
    Unavailable
    Queer Saint - The Cultured Life of Peter Watson
    Ebook645 pages9 hours

    Queer Saint - The Cultured Life of Peter Watson

    By Adrian Clark and Jeremy Dronfield

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    When Peter Watson was murdered in his bath by a jealous boyfriend in 1956, the art world lost one of its wealthiest, most influential patrons. This compellingly attractive man, adored by Cecil Beaton; a man who was called a legend by contemporaries, who was the subject of two scandalous novels, and who helped launch the careers of Francis Bacon, John Craxton and Lucian Freud, fell victim to a fortune-hungry lover.Elegant and hungrily sexual, Peter Watson had a taste for edgy, disreputable boyfriends. He was the unrequited love of Cecil Beaton's life - his 'queer saint' - but Peter preferred the risk of edgier, less sophisticated lovers, including the beautiful, volatile, drug-addicted prostitute Denham Fouts. Peter's thirst for adventure took him through the cabaret culture of 1930s Berlin, the demi-monde and aristocratic salons of pre-war Paris, English high society, and the glitz of Hollywood's golden age.Gore Vidal described him as 'a charming man, tall, thin, perverse. One of those intricate English queer types who usually end up as field marshals, but because he was so rich he never had to do anything.' Truman Capote called him 'not just another rich queen, but - in a stooped, intellectual, bitter-lipped style - one of the most personable men in England'.More than just a gay playboy, Peter Watson was a renowned connoisseur, and fuelled the engine of mid-twentieth century art with his enormous wealth. Without his patronage, Bacon and Freud might have failed before they'd got started. He also founded the influential British arts journal Horizon with Cyril Connolly and Stephen Spender, and was one of the core founders of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and organised most of its early exhibitions.From the mystery of his obscure family origins to the enigma surrounding his premature death, this book follows Peter Watson through an odyssey of the mid twentieth century, from high society to sweaty underworld, and discovers a man tormented by depression and doubt; he ultimately wanted love and a sense of self-worth but instead found angst and a squalid death.'PETER WATSON (1908-1956), LONG FORGOTTEN AS AN ASTUTE GREY EMINENCE IN THE ART WORLD OF HIS DAY, DISCERNING COLLECTOR OF PAINTINGS, PATRON OF THE YOUNG AND PROMISING, FOUNDER AND BENEFACTOR OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS, IS AT LAST AND DESERVEDLY THE SUBJECT OF A SCRUPULOUS AND COMPELLING INVESTIGATION' - BRIAN SEWELL'THIS COMPELLING REDISCOVERY OF THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER WATSON CASTS NEW LIGHT ON THE INTELLECTUAL AND ARTISTIC WORLD OF MID-TWENTIETH-CENTURY BRITAIN: THE WORLD OF BACON AND FREUD, CYRIL CONNOLLY AND STEPHEN SPENDER' - LOYD GROSSMAN, CHAIRMAN OF THE HERITAGE ALLIANCE
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMetro
    Release dateApr 2, 2015
    ISBN9781784186289
    Unavailable
    Queer Saint - The Cultured Life of Peter Watson
    Author

    Adrian Clark

    Adrian Clark was born in East Sussex and was raised by a foster family. Educated in Bexhill-on-Sea. Left school at sixteen, with no formal qualifications. An ordinary man from an ordinary background, which goes to show that there is a book inside all of us. Later, Adrian moved to Devon, where he developed a love of people and human nature, along with travel and a sense of humour.

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