Billy Al Bengston
Title: Punta Carrera Draculas
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas . 2015
Location:

The “Dracula” of the painting’s title is a type of iris. You can see one of them in the lower left. In 2016, the fashion house Yves St. Laurent put out a line of men’s and women’s clothing based on Billy Al Bengston’s Dracula paintings.

In the 1960s, Bengston was part of a group of young artists who were represented by the Ferus Gallery. They were good-looking, hard-partying, macho guys. Nicknamed the “Cool School,” the artists included Bengston, Ed Ruscha, and Ed Moses — all of whom have works in the Luskin Art Collection. Bengston cultivated his “studly” image by circulating photographs of himself with — and on — motorcycles.

Bengston died in 2022 at the age of 88.