ALEC MURRAY (BRITISH 1917-2002) Photographs

two matte silver gelatin portraits of John Osborne, circa 1961, each 30 x 25cm (unframed); together with a copy of Luther of 1961, featuring a photograph on the dust jacket by Murray
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Alec Murray, the Australian born photographer, arrived in London in 1948. He had his first commission from Paris Match in 1951, worked on fashion magazines and other publications and covered the Queen's Coronation. He subsequently set up his own studio in London and became the lover of fellow Australian Jocelyn Rickards. Murray and Rickards were living in a flat in Eaton Square when Rickards first met Osborne who was directing rehearsals for the The World of Paul Slickey (lots 10-12).

Rickards and Osborne moved in together in early 1961, living in Lower Belgrave Street and ending the sham of Osborne's marriage to the actress Mary Ure. In an interview with Heilpern Rickards remarked of Osborne: 'He was the most complex man I've ever known. He was emotionally immature and fragile, he was tender and scornful. He needed affection and encouragement. He was full of gaiety, but he could reveal little talent for enjoying life. He had a talent for fucking up other people's lives and his own.' (Heilpern, p. 258).