Catalogue Number
NMLH.2023.80
Object Name
portrait
Date
1976
Description
This is a portrait of Mike Lesser. It was painted in 1975-76, using egg tempera and oil paint on primed linen canvas. The artist is Nicola Lane, who knew Mike Lesser personally. Mike kept the portrait which was kept in his house, and was returned to the artist before his death in 2015. The painting style intended to create a contemporary version of renaissance portraits of young men holding flowers or a medallion â in this case, Mike is holding cigarette papers to fill with tobacco and "crumbled hashish."
The painting is mounted onto a wooden frame; the predominant colours are blue, white, orange, and red. It shows Mike sitting on a white chair, holding cigarette papers, in a room with white walls, a blue carpet, two rugs, and a red and white towel hanging from the door.
Mike Lesser was a mathematical philosopher, political activist, scientist and anarcho-communist. Lesser was the youngest member of the Committee of 100, a British anti-war group. He was imprisoned for two years when he was 16; he was also active in the May 1968 French protests. Lesser was also one of the âSpies for Peaceâ, a British anti-war activist group associated with the Committee of 100. In 1963 they broke into a secret government bunker, to photograph and circulate governmental documents. Mike Lesser had autism and initiated extensive research into autism and computing.
Measurements
Width: 765mm
Length: 915mm
Depth: 75mm
