John S. Barrington (British, 1920-1991)

Portrait of Gian-Carlo Zampetti, ca. 1965. Oil stick, graphite and incising on gessoed masonite board. A large-scale portrait of Barrington's lover and frequent muse, Gian-Carlo Zampetti. Barrington and Zampetti met along the Côte d'Azur, France in 1958, after which the two would enter an on-and-off relationship lasting until 1962. Beginning his career before World War II during the late 1930s, Barrington was a pioneer of homoerotic art, establishing the British physique genre that would later flourish from the 1960s onwards. In 1954, he launched Male Model Monthly, the first British physique magazine. As an artist with a homoerotic and male erotic focus Barrington was the subject of repeated witch-hunt investigations. He was arrested for obscenity and "homosexual indecency" multiple times throughout his career but was unrelenting in the pursuit of his oeuvre. Board: 24 x 18 in. (60.9 x 45.7 cm) Frame: 35 1/2 x 28 in. (90 x 72.4 cm) Auctioneer's Note: This item was offered and acquired in a previous Vallots' sale and entered into a private collection. The collector has since passed, and as per the estate of the collector, this item has been consigned for sale with Vallot Auctioneers. Condition Minor abrasions along the figure's shoulder on the center left and near the elbow on the lower right. For further condition details or additional images, please contact info@vallots.com

Estimate:$275

View all items fromVallot AuctioneersorArts & Graphics