A highly important and historically significant painting. 'Rimming Scene,' 1978, is a mixed media pastel, charcoal and pencil on board housed in its original gold tone metal period frame. Signed and dated by the artist on the bottom right, "Chuck Arnett SF 78." Framed. 26 x 28".

Charles "Chuck" Arnett painted murals and art for many San Francisco gay bars and businesses in the 1950s and 1960s, such as the Ambush, the Balcony, the Red Star Saloon, the Stud, and the Tool Box.

Arnett's 1962 series of murals in the Tool Box was featured in the June 1964 edition of Life Magazine as part of an article entitled "Homosexuality in America." Arnett's work had a strong impact on the aesthetic of leather communities in San Francisco, and he is widely recognized as a central figure in gay culture and art. As the scholar, historian and activist Jack Fritscher wrote, "If there is a gay Mount Rushmore of four great pioneer pop artists, the faces would be Chuck Arnett..."

The historical significance of this particular painting cannot be overstated. The painting was featured in the Fey-Way Studios inaugural show, X: The Pornographic Art. Fey-Way Studios was a short-lived but incredibly influential San Francisco gallery founded by Robert Opel (1939-1979) in 1978. Fey-Way held early and first shows for Robert Mapplethorpe, Tom of Finland, and many other important then marginalized gay artists. Fey-Way Studios closed abruptly during its First Anniversary show, after Robert Opel was tragically murdered in the gallery on July 7, 1979. While the motive of Opel's murderer is unknown, there is speculation that the murder was retaliation for Opel's earlier performance piece,"The Mock Execution of Dan White" (1979), which savaged the murderer Dan White, who assassinated San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone on November 27, 1978.

Opel championed Arnett's artistic practice, which often featured men's asses and male/male assplay, however, very few of Arnett's completed paintings are now known to exist. This painting, 'Rimming Scene' was on display at Fey-Way Gallery on the night of Opel's murder.

Exhibited:

The Res~Erection of Fey Way Studios. February 14-March 15, 2014.

Provenance:

Fey-Way Studio Gallery (1979).

Antebellum Gallery (2014).

Property of a private Los Angeles, CA collection.

Some surface indentations (middle left, outside the primary image) and scattered abrasions and spots of loss primarily at the top of the hair and bottom right.

For further condition details or additional images, please contact info@vallots.com