Robert Fraser (13 August 1937 – 27 January 1986), sometimes known as "Groovy Bob", was a London
art dealer. He was a figure in the London cultural scene of the mid-to-late 1960s, and was close to members of
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
(particularly
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
) and
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
. In February 2015, the exhibition ''A Strong Sweet Smell of Incense: A Portrait of Robert Fraser'', curated by
Brian Clarke
Sir Brian Clarke (born 2 July 1953) is a British Painting, painter, architectural artist, designer and Printmaking, printmaker, known for his large-scale stained glass and mosaic projects, symbolist paintings, set designs, and collaborations w ...
, was presented by
Pace Gallery
The Pace Gallery is a contemporary and modern art gallery with 9 locations worldwide. It was founded in Boston by Arne Glimcher in 1960. His son, Marc Glimcher, is now president and CEO. Pace Gallery operates in New York, London, Hong Kong, ...
at the
Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
in London.
Early life and education
Robert Fraser was born on 13 August 1937, the son of banker
Lionel Fraser,
CMG, who had started as a
newspaper delivery boy.
Lionel Fraser's father was
butler to
Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of the
Selfridges department store chain.
Fraser was educated at
Eton College
Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
, and spent several years in Africa in the 1950s as an officer in the
King's African Rifles (KAR).
Career
After a period spent working in galleries in the United States he returned to England, and with the help of his father (a wealthy financier who had also been a trustee of the
Tate Gallery) established the Robert Fraser Gallery at 69
Duke Street (near
Grosvenor Square
Grosvenor Square ( ) is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of Westminster, Greater London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was deve ...
), London, in 1962.
The gallery interior was designed by
Cedric Price.
The Robert Fraser Gallery became a focal point for modern art in Britain, and through his exhibitions he helped to launch and promote the work of many important new British and American artists including
Peter Blake,
Clive Barker
Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English writer, filmmaker, and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1980s with a series of short stories collectively named the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading horror author ...
,
Bridget Riley,
Jann Haworth,
Richard Hamilton,
Gilbert and George
Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942) are artists who work together as the collaborative art duo Gilbert & George. They are known for their formal appearance ...
,
Eduardo Paolozzi,
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
,
Harold Cohen,
Jim Dine and
Ed Ruscha. Fraser also sold work by
René Magritte
René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgium, Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature ...
,
Jean Dubuffet
Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (; 31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French Painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor of the School of Paris, École de Paris (School of Paris). His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" a ...
,
Balthus and
Hans Bellmer.
"Swinging Sixties"
In 1966, the Robert Fraser Gallery was prosecuted for staging an exhibition of works by
Jim Dine that was described as indecent (but not obscene). The works were removed from the gallery by the
Metropolitan Police, and Fraser was charged under a 19th-century vagrancy law that applied to street beggars. He was fined 20
guineas
The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...
and legal costs.
Fraser became a trendsetter during the Sixties;
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
has described him as "one of the most influential people of the London Sixties scene". His London flat and his gallery were the foci of a "
jet-set"
salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon
A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
of top pop stars, artists, writers and other
celebrities
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...
, including members of
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
and
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
, photographer
Michael Cooper
Michael Jerome Cooper (born April 15, 1956), nicknamed "Coop", is an American basketball coach and former player. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers during his entire career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning five NBA champ ...
, designer
Christopher Gibbs,
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single " As Tears Go By". She became one of the leading female art ...
,
Dennis Hopper (who introduced Fraser to satirist
Terry Southern),
William Burroughs and
Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927 – May 11, 2023) was an American Underground film, underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and writer. Working exclusively in short films, he produced almost 40 works beginning i ...
. Because of this, he was given the nickname "Groovy Bob" by Terry Southern.
His flat at 23
Mount Street, on the third floor above
Scott's restaurant, was described by
Barry Miles
Barry Miles (born 21 February 1943) is an English author known for his participation in and writing on the subjects of the 1960s London underground and counterculture. He is the author of numerous books and his work has also regularly appeare ...
as one of the "coolest sixties pads in London".
Fraser art-directed the cover for the Beatles' 1967 album ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' – he dissuaded the group from using the original design, a psychedelic artwork created by the design collective
The Fool, instead suggesting the pop artists
Peter Blake and Jann Haworth, who created the famous collage cover design for which they each won a Grammy Award.
It was through Fraser that
Richard Hamilton was selected to design the poster for the ''
White Album''. His gallery also hosted ''You Are Here'', Lennon's own foray into
avant garde art during 1968.
He was a close friend of the Rolling Stones and was present at the infamous 1967 party at
Keith Richards
Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...
' country house,
Redlands, which was raided by police, leading to the
subsequent arrests and trials of
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...
, Richards, and Fraser on drug possession charges. The event is commemorated by the 1968 Richard Hamilton artwork ''Swingeing London 67'', a collage of contemporary press clippings about the case, and the portrait of Jagger and Fraser handcuffed together also entitled "Swingeing London".
Fraser always insisted that neither Jagger nor Richards actually had any drugs with them, and that everything found by the police actually belonged to him. During the raid he persuaded the officers that his 20 heroin pills were actually for an upset stomach and offered them only one for testing. Although Jagger and Richards were acquitted on appeal, Fraser pleaded guilty to charges of possession of heroin, and was sentenced to six months in prison.
After his release Fraser's interest in the gallery declined as his heroin addiction grew worse, and he closed the business in 1969.
Fraser moved down the street to a large 8-room apartment on the 2nd floor of 120 Mount Street; the previous occupant was writer and theatre critic
Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Initially making his mark as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised John Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) and encouraged the emerging wave ...
.
Keith Richards
Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...
from the
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
was living with Fraser at the time, and it was here, sitting by the window in the lounge room, that Richards had the inspiration for the song
Gimme Shelter "I had been sitting by the window of my friend Robert Fraser's apartment on Mount Street in London with an acoustic guitar when suddenly the sky went completely black and an incredible monsoon came down. It was just people running about looking for shelter – that was the germ of the idea. We went further into it until it became, you know, rape and murder are 'just a shot away'."
1970s and 1980s, and death
Fraser left the UK and spent several years in India during the 1970s. He returned to London in the early 1980s and opened a second gallery in 1983, with a show of paintings by the stained glass and architectural artist
Brian Clarke
Sir Brian Clarke (born 2 July 1953) is a British Painting, painter, architectural artist, designer and Printmaking, printmaker, known for his large-scale stained glass and mosaic projects, symbolist paintings, set designs, and collaborations w ...
, but by this time he was suffering from chronic drug and alcohol problems and the gallery never replicated the success of its predecessor, although Fraser was again influential in promoting the work of Clarke,
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement.
Basquiat first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti ...
and
Keith Haring
Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the Graffiti in New York City, New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual l ...
.
It soon transpired that Fraser was also suffering from
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
. He was one of the first 'celebrity' victims of the disease in the UK.
In 1985, he sold his
Cork Street gallery to
Victoria Miro, who subsequently created the successful
Victoria Miro Gallery. Fraser seemed disillusioned, and told her at the time "You'll never make a contemporary art gallery work in this country."
[O'Hagan, Sean]
"Victoria Miro, queen of arts"
''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'', 11 July 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
He was cared for by the
Terence Higgins Trust during his final illness and died in January 1986. He died at his mother's flat in London.
Sources
*Vyner, Harriet. ''Groovy Bob: The Life and Times of Robert Fraser''. United Kingdom: Faber (1999); HENI Publishing (2017).
*Clarke, Brian; Vyner, Harriet. ''A Strong Sweet Smell of Incense: A Portrait of Robert Fraser''. United Kingdom: PACE London/HENI Publishing (2015).
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Robert
1937 births
1986 deaths
People educated at Eton College
King's African Rifles officers
Art dealers from London
AIDS-related deaths in England
20th-century English businesspeople
20th-century English LGBTQ people
20th-century art collectors
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones