A gay man working in 1970’s and 80’s Louisiana, New Orleans artist George Dureau is best known for his black and white portrait photographs that feature men with marginalized identities. Dureau’s sitters include African Americans, members of the LGBTQ community, disabled people and amputees. This artwork is a colored screenprint of a photograph Dureau took of model Raymond Maxwell Hall in 1979. Hall modeled for Dureau on several occasions, and though not much is known about Hall's life, Dureau recreated this image both as a screenprint (seen here) and as an oil painting on canvas, suggesting an intimacy between artist and sitter. Here, Hall is depicted in classical form, referencing Greek and Roman sculpture, which celebrates his masculinity, physique and sensuality. Dureau romanticizes Hall’s nude black male body, not as fetishization or othering, but with reverence and admiration.

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

• Legacy Traces , 1/18/2024 - 6/22/2024

• overall, frame Dimensions: 30.5 x 23 in. (774.7 x 584.2 mm)

This object is a member of the following portfolios: