The Picture of Dorian Gray II

Feb 28, 2006

Oscar Wilde’s novel was filmed by Albert Lewin in 1945, a great adaptation with Hurd Hatfield playing Dorian, George Sanders as the aphoristic Lord Henry and Angela Lansbury as Sybil Vane. Lewin made a number of respectably arty films during the Forties and Fifties but Dorian Gray has always seemed the best to me, even if I am biased towards the story.

The film was shot in black and white but views of the painting were shown in colour. For the final view of Dorian’s decayed portrait he commissioned the hyper-real artist Ivan Albright (1897–1983) whose shockingly grotesque picture (below) provides a memorable climax to the film. That painting now resides in the Art Institute of Chicago.

Update: added a “before” view of the painting.

Update 2: added a link to a recent Wikipedia copy of the “after” picture that’s larger than previously available versions.

14 comments or trackbacks

#1 posted by Eroom Nala

Feb 28th, 2006

What about the Before portrait for a contrast?
:-)
http://theoscarsite.com/chronicle/1945img/dorian_gray.jpg

http://cc.ysu.edu/~tacopela/Milton/images/dorian-Hatfield.jpg

Not the best images but gives you some idea
#2 posted by John

Feb 28th, 2006

I did consider it but couldn’t find a good enough picture.
#3 posted by Eroom Nala

Jan 4th, 2007

More images including the before portrait in colour and a downloadable version of the film

http://tesla.liketelevision.com/liketelevision/tuner.php?channel=920&format=movie&theme=guide
#4 posted by John

Jan 4th, 2007

Hmm, $10 for an mpeg download sounds like a lot when you could probably find a DVD for the same price.

BTW, I have no idea why this meagre post is so popular unless people keep clicking it to find out why it’s at the top of the list.
#5 posted by Eroom Nala

Jan 4th, 2007

Everyone wants to be young forever.

Just don’t go about slashing your portrait.
#6 posted by Jan Lee Martin

May 5th, 2007

Hallo

I’ve discovered your site while looking for a good pic of Dorian Gray to accompany a story I am posting tonight….. now I’m writing to seek your permission to use the one you are using.

We are a not-for-profit organisation established in Sydney (now also Melbourne) to explore the future and to help others do the same. In the expectation of your approval, I’ll post the pic tonight (I won’t have another chance for a week or so) but can remove it instantly if you tell me you’d like me to do that.

Given your interest in Dorian, you might enjoy my story on longevity….

Best wishes – Jan

PS: By coincidence I found myself exploring the word “feuilleton” recently after it cropped up at a conference at Melk Abbey in Austria. See http://www.waldzell.org for more, if it interets you. Strong flavours of Hermann Hesse.
#7 posted by John

May 5th, 2007

Hi Jan,

As with many (most?) blogs, the images on these postings are often taken from prior sources so I don’t have any control over their copyright. Fair use rules in copyright generally allow you to repost things (espcially small images) if you’re not being exploitative but then I’m not a lawyer and different countries have different rules.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use
#8 posted by Taylor

Sep 28th, 2007

Greetings. I just wanted to say that I love all of this work on Dorian Grey. I’m currently working on my own rendition for school, I’m 16, it’s a mixed media class. We have an option to do a “Free.” Painting, meaning no guidelines, no structure. I was so excited when I got this project, I knew right away what I wanted to do. I have researched the story before, but I just decided to get on and look at the rendidtion or the “Before” shot so that I could put myself a bit closer to it. See, I’ve only been around 16 years, so my painting shouldn’t be nearly as horrible. My teacher says that I’m very talented, and if she expected anyone to pull something like this off, it would be me. Thanks to whomever posted these things, great help!!!
#9 posted by John

Sep 28th, 2007

Glad to be some help, Taylor. I’ve just noticed there’s a much bigger version of the Albright painting now online:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray-_Ivan_Albright.jpg
#10 posted by Noel

May 30th, 2009

Hi John,

Great blog. Been a big fan of this adaptation. After extensive search on the internet, it intrigues me that the whereabouts of the ‘before’ picture is unknown. Was it given to Mr Hatfield? Was it destroyed?

Speaking of screen captures, I found a website that compared DVDs of this movie.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews29/picture_of_dorian_gray.htm

meanwhile, my search continues.

Best
#11 posted by John

May 30th, 2009

Hi Noel, and thanks.

I’d guess that the “before” picture was one of those portrait jobs produced by the studio art department. A prop in other words, and no doubt gone the way of most other prop paintings, either sold off or destroyed in a clearance. Would be good to hear it was still around, however.

I also recommend the BBC adaptation by John Osborne. Not as lavish as Lewin’s version but it covers aspects of the story which Hollywood missed.
#12 posted by Noel

May 30th, 2009

It would certainly make for good detective work if indeed the “before” portrait was sold off.

Thanks for the link. It will be interesting to compare the two adaptations. I’m guessing the BBC adaptation is more faithful to the book.

Just for interest some photos by LIFE magazine of the artists Ivan and Malvin Albright at work on the ‘decaying’ Dorian portraits for the movie. I note that they used mannequins.
http://www.life.com/image/50611792
http://www.life.com/image/50490080
I initially thought the Albrights did both portraits, however when looking at the second photo of the ‘before’ portrait, it doesn’t resemble the portrait in the movie, so you may well be correct that a studio portrait was made.
#13 posted by John

Jun 1st, 2009

The BBC version is more faithful in places although both adaptations necessarily skate through some of the story.

Thanks for the LIFE links, those are fascinating and probably worth a post of their own. Going back to the film I realised I’d been rather hasty in assuming the “before” picture to be a studio job, it’s credited in the opening as being the work of a genuine portrait artist of the period, one Henrique Medina.
#14 posted by Noel

Jun 1st, 2009

You are certainly more observant that I am! I never would have thought to have a look at the opening credits.

Well so far, we know the painting was by Henrique Medina. Following on from that. I encountered a book called ‘Hollywood Cauldron’ by Gregory Mank (thanks to google books) which mentioned the “before” portrait during the making of the movie. The portrait was subsequently sold to a private collector at the MGM auction for $25,000. (pg 305). (I assume this to be the great MGM Auction of 1970). Anything beyond that is a mystery.

At least I know now it was sold off and not destroyed.

Thank you again John, much appreciated!