The Life and Death of Charles Williams

Oil on canvas, 56 x 72.5cm, 2024

Charles Williams (1942-1999) was an African American artist from Kentucky, USA who lived and died in poverty of AIDS. An old school friend recently revealed to me that he had almost died of the same disease. This friend always has had a very competitive nature with me. Hence, in this work I interpret a painting from the English painter and sculptor Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873) which depicts two rival siblings racing on horses with their dogs, and combine it subtly with an image of Charles Williams in the backyard he used as his studio and a gallery, as a dedication to him, my friend, and other victims of AIDS.