Errol Series


For many years I had wanted to produce a series of paintings depicting some episodes in the life of an Australian actor Errol Flynn, the dashing Hollywood film-hero of many swashbuckling films, but also a self-confessed anti-hero in his own life, the likes of which could rival the fictitios anti-hero of a Russian writer M.Y. Lermontov, who penned the famous, 'Hero of our time".

Having dedicated over a year of my life to the project, I researched Errol's life and produced fifty paintings: symbolically, a painting for each year of his life.

The reason for this affection for Errol has nothing to do with his film career, but with the physical reality that there do exist some rare samples of humans, who are lovable rogues: those who are weak but seem strong; those who are so beautiful they take our breath away – and our better sense; those who can – when they want to, or need to – charm their way out of any predicament: be it a firing squad, a harsh scrutity of a judge, or a betrayal of a friend.

I know a number of people with the traits and attitudes of Errol. This means that he is not alone. But where he is unique, and shall always remain so, is in the era that he lived: the era of the golden-age of Hollywood, when any excess was not just permitted but encouraged.

But this priviledge was only offered to those who were charismatically handsome and beautiful enough to reap financial rewards for the movie moguls.

Errol was one of those rare, beautiful but flawed birds: a "wild colonial boy" who 'made it' but was never acknowledged for all his achievements by his nation of birth.

Instead, this nation pretends to celebrate the spirit of a larrikin, but in reality prefers to extol the memory of cold blooded murderers, like Ned Kelly, rather than the harmless likes of Errol Flynn.

The pictures presented are not in any cronological order of Errol's life, but in the order they were painted.

Errol makes a splash;
aboard SS Paris-23502
Errol with Dr Erben: Farewell New Guinea
-27502
Errol crossing over
-31502
Errol with a new script
-5602
Errol waiting for the
rush -10602
Adoration of Errol
-15602
Errol recalls Jack
Warner -20602
Errol with his mates
-21602
Errol recalls Lili
-23602
Errol: the white colonial
boy -29602
Portrait of Erroll
-3702
Waiting for Errol
-6702
Errol swings
-11702
Errol with Arno and
friends -13702
Picasso and Errol at the movies -15702 Ernest and Errol with the Spanish boys and girls
-24702
Errol with Dr Erben: Barcelona '37 -28702 Errol with Dr Erben: tourists in Madrid '37
-2802
Farewell Espania '37
-5802
Errol & his 3 wives
-15802
Visiting Coward
-21802
Errol leaving Betty
-24802
Taking Betty
-27802
Peggy in the frame,
Betty in the lap
-2902
Self-appraisal of Errol
-10902
Errol in Paradise
-15902
Errol wins again
-22902
Larking with David Niven -41002
Drinking in the sun
-121002
Errol at home with his
mates -211002
Errol and boys just
want to have fun -261002
Blue Errol awaiting
company -1-1102
Errol visiting the
Jamaican girls -61102
Errol dining with the
Royalty -131102
Errol at a Hollywood
masquerade -191102
Bad boy Errol
-301102
Errol pulling with the
boys -131202
Errol visiting Barbara
-251202
Errol posing with his
Papua New Guinea
trophies -311202
Oh, Errol!
-7103
Errol and George
carousing in Mexico
-17103
Farewell Cuba
-23103
When on top, one is
not enough -30103
Errol at the bar
-8203
Errol posing with
Roosevelts -18203
Errol, when in Rome...
-25203
Errol, in the lap of a teen -9303 Errol: always bounty
bound -13303
Errol at the last supper
-27303
Is it our turn, yet, Errol?
-3403