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Ronald Wright (1928 – 2020)

Ronald Wright was a pioneering illustrator, submitting work in the 1950s to “Men’s interest” magazines. A prison sentence in 1961 ended his career in print, but he continued to sell images around the world by mail order. After prison, when no gay magazine dared hire him, Ron reinvented himself as London’s leading life model, a cabaret artist, author and became a noted spiritualist healer. A fabulous storyteller, Ron spent his final decades, both delighting and educating younger generations with stories of his experiences and became a sought-after speaker and radio guest. He continued to draw until the end of his life.

Men About The House: The Tilers

Ronald Wright (1928 – 2020)

Pencil and ink on paper, 1950s
HETFM:2016.165.25

The Men About The House series featured four comic scenes of hapless but beautiful men performing domestic tasks.

The New World

Ronald Wright (1928 – 2020)

Pencil and ink on paper, 1963
HETFM:2016.165.63

Ron’s answer to the Space Race.

Male Portrait

Ronald Wright (1928 – 2020)

Coloured pencil on paper, 1954
HETFM:2016.165.65

One of a series of studies of the same model.

The Wrestlers

Ronald Wright (1928 – 2020)

Pencil on paper, 1950s
HETFM:2016.165.89.2

Drawings such as this were able to escape the censors due to the focus on “men’s health”.

There’s No Business Like Showbusiness: Cut!

Ronald Wright (1928 – 2020)

Pencil on paper, 1950s
HETFM:2016.165.26

There’s no business like show business was a series of four drawings centred around film, stage and music. The series epitomised Ron’s sense of fun with characters in gently risqué situations.

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