Vivian Forbes

Vivian Forbes (8 August 1891 – 24 December 1937) was an English soldier, painter and poet in the early 20th century, and the longtime partner of painter Glyn Philpot.[1][2]

Vivian Forbes - The Echoing Valley
Portrait of Vivian Forbes by Glyn Philpot

Forbes was enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers and met Philpot at a training in Aldershot in 1915.[1][3] He was involved in business in Egypt after the war, and before beginning a more serious relationship with Philpot.[4] Like Philpot, Forbes' work was affected by concern over the rise of fascism in Europe, and he was influenced by the 19th century Aestheticism movement, and painters like Charles Ricketts and Charles Haslewood Shannon.[5] Forbes also composed poetry, all of it dedicated to Philpot and their relationship.[5] Forbes, Philpot, Ricketts and Shannon all had studios at some point in the Lansdown Road building of the Ladbroke Estate.[6]

Described as witty and charming, Forbes was also unstable, and his relationship with Philpot was very close. Following Philpot's sudden death on 18 December 1937, Forbes was overcome with grief, and committed suicide using sleeping pills on 23 December after Philpot's funeral.[1][2]

References
  1. Harrity, Christopher. "The Edwardians: Glyn Warren Philpot". The Advocate. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  2. Freyberg, Annabel (20 June 1999). "Monday Book: A charmed life tinged with pain". The Independent. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  3. Delaney, JGP (2003). "Gerald Heard's memoir of Glyn Philpot c1945". The British Art Journal. 4: 86–90.
  4. Cox, Devon (2015). The Street of Wonderful Possibilities: Whistler, Wilde and Sargent in Tite Street. Frances Lincoln. ISBN 9781781011928.
  5. Cooper, Emmanuel (2005). The Sexual Perspective: Homosexuality and Art in the Last 100 Years in the West. Routledge. pp. 150–53. ISBN 9781134834587. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  6. Hibbert, Christopher; Weinreb, Ben; Keay, John; Keay, Julia (2011). The London Encyclopaedia (3rd Edition). Pan Macmillan. p. 475.


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