Michael Portman, ill-starred English aristocrat, then staying next door room to William Burroughs at Villa Muniria studying Alpha rhythms, stroboscope “Dream-Machine” illusions and letters with Burroughs and Brion Gysin. Dorian Gray youth, he died in mid-age, alcohol and other dissipations, Tangier 1961.

1961, printed 1985

Allen Ginsberg

Associated Names
Allen Ginsberg

Artist, American, 1926 - 1997

This black-and-white photograph shows a young man seated in a chair behind a table on the left, with his hands clasped and his body slightly turned to the right. He is looking out at us. He has pale skin, a strong brow, high cheekbones, and short, wavy hair. He wears a dark long-sleeved shirt and light-colored pants, and there is a bottle partially visible on the table in front of him, as well as a small box that looks like a pack of cigarettes. The room has plain walls, with a small piece of art hanging by the upper-right corner that is only partially visible. Additionally, there are several lines of handwritten text below the bottom of the photograph.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Gary Davis

  • Dimensions

    image: 29.5 × 19.5 cm (11 5/8 × 7 11/16 in.)
    sheet: 35.5 × 27.8 cm (14 × 10 15/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2012.118.61

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Allen Ginsberg Estate; Gary and Ellen Davis, Greenwich, CT; gift to NGA, 2012.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

signed by artist, across bottom in black ink: Michael Portman, ill-starred English aristocrat, then staying next / door room to William Burroughs at Villa Muneria studying Alpha / rhythms, strobiscope “Dream-Machine” illusions and letters with / Burroughs and Brion Gysin. Dorian Gray youth, he died in mid- / age, alcohol and other dissippations, Tanger 1961. Allen Ginsberg; on verso, signed by artist: center right perpendicular in graphite: Signed 4/24/90 AG.; by unknown hand, upper center in graphite: page 22; center right perpendicular: 1961/51/905 / SK printed 12/10/85; lower left circled: #19; lower center: GD-AG-396; lower right: GDC-628

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