Malcolm Morley

Malcolm Morley (1931-2018), Artist.

At the time this portrait was created, Boshier was living in New York and was in regular contact with his fellow-artist Malcolm Morley, with whom he had studied at the Royal College of Art. On visiting Morley's studio, Boshier made a drawing of him on the back of an envelope. This image formed the basis of the present painting that was then completed from memory. Boshier has written, 'it's very important to me to paint someone when they are not there, to use my imagination. Otherwise you paint only physiological likeness...' The split image motif refers to comments made by others to Boshier about Morley's divided character: one part polite, the other confrontational.