| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Vivian Forbes
(generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil and wash |
| Brief description | Drawing by Glyn Warren Philpot, R.A. |
| Physical description | Portrait of Vivian Forbes, head, facing half right. |
| Dimensions | - Height: 33.02cm
- Width: 19.05cm
Taken from Victoria & Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1957-1958 London: HMSO 1964 |
| Credit line | Given by Miss Daisy and Mr Leonard Philpot |
| Subject depicted | |
| Bibliographic references | - Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1957-1958 London: HMSO, 1964
- The following is an excerpt from ‘Homosexuality in Art’ by James Smalls, published by Parkstone Press Ltd., New York, USA, 2003.
“Early in his career, Philpot was not at all attracted to modernist styles and preferred the aestheticized literary and decorative approach of his fellow countrymen Charles Rickets and Charles Shannon. As time passes, Philpot sought more spiritual rather than purely decorative themes. In the early 1920s, he made a visit to North Africa and was influenced by the art, environment, and availability of sexual activity there.
He then became a full member of the Royal Academy and garnered public and private commissions. Although popular and successful throughout the 1920s, Philpot was dissatisfied with the conservative nature of his painting and began to question his role as an artist. During the 1930s, he began to take an interest in politics, in particular, the effects of the Great Depression at home and the rise of the Fascism in Europe. He then moved to Paris and made frequent trips to Germany. While in Paris, he frequented many of the nightclubs where homosexuals gathered and partook of a very active sex life. In his art, he continued working on combining his interests in politics with suggestively spiritual and explicit homoerotic imagery.”
- The following excerpt is by Harrity, Christopher for 'The Advocate', 31/03/2012:
'Philpot joined the Royal Fusiliers and in August 1915 attended a training course at Aldershot, where he met Vivian Forbes (1891-1937), a fellow soldier and an aspiring painter. From 1923-1935, Philpot and Forbes intermittently shared a home and studio at Lansdowne House in London. Forbes was charming, witty, and fairly unstable, as evidenced by his increasing possessiveness regarding Philpot. Although a tumultuous relationship, it was a source of inspiration to Philpot as well. Gerald Heard, a gay mutual friend and writer, believed that Forbes brought out the best in Philpot...
During the 1930s Philpot suffered from high blood-pressure and breathing difficulties. He passed the summer of 1937 in France where he spent time with Forbes. On December 18 he collapsed suddenly in London and died of a brain hemorrhage. Forbes returned from Paris in a highly distressed state to attend Philpot's funeral at Westminster Cathedral on December 22. The following day he took his own life with an overdose of sleeping pills.'
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