Quentin Crisp was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of his most famous work, The Naked Civil Servant. He afterwards became a gay icon due to his flamboyant personality, fashion sense and wit. His iconic status was occasionally controversial due to his remarks about subjects like the AIDS crisis, inviting censure from gay activists including human-rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
In New York City, 1992
Quentin Crisp's handwriting and signature, from a dedication on the title page of How to Become a Virgin (1981)
Quentin Crisp in a performance of his one-man show, An Evening With Quentin Crisp, in Birmingham, 1982
Quentin Crisp (oil on canvas), a portrait by American painter Ella Guru. As the sculptor John W. Mills had done before her, Guru rendered Crisp wearing his trademark fedora.
An art model poses, often nude, for visual artists as part of the creative process, providing a reference for the human body in a work of art. As an occupation, modeling requires the often strenuous 'physical work' of holding poses for the required length of time, the 'aesthetic work' of performing a variety of interesting poses, and the 'emotional work' of maintaining a socially ambiguous role. While the role of nude models is well-established as a necessary part of artistic practice, public nudity remains transgressive, and models may be vulnerable to stigmatization or exploitation. Artists may also have family and friends pose for them, in particular for works with costumed figures.
Model (1914) drawing by Boris Kustodiev
Portrait d'Olga dans un fauteuil, (Pablo Picasso's wife Olga Khokhlova in an Armchair, 1917–1918)
Life class at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, 1947
Man as life model in Netherlands