Michael Leonard British, 1933-2023
Up on the Roof, 1979

POA

Acrylic on canvas
Signed and dated (lower right)
99cm x 96cm, (101cm x 104cm framed)
Provenance: Sir Peter Moores, CBE

When Michael became aware that a group of workmen were busy on scaffolding opposite his rooftop studio in Egerton Gardens he decided they were an ideal subject for him to take on. “Across the street from my studio there were men working with unconscious grace against a grid of scaffolding and sky, and this led me to paint several highly structured pictures including Scaffolders (1978) Passage of Arms (1979) and Up on the Roof (1979)."

Observing the men as they worked, Michael photographed them with a long lens. They were at first hostile when they realized they were being watched then they let loose a torrent of verbal abuse. Soon afterwards, though, Michael was startled to find one of them sitting on his balcony watching him work. Then without uttering a word, the man gave him the thumbs-up and disappeared… The figure with the white hat and “devilish grin” is a portrait of William Bory, one of Michael’s New York friends. (Michael Leonard, Painter & Illustrator, by Patrick Bade, pp.71 & 77)