MICHAEL JACKSON BRETT-LIVINGSTONE STRONG (1953), The Book, December

Oil on canvas and acrylic on Masonite board, in an ornate frame. Dimensions as stated in the contractual documents: canvas, 30 × 40 inches (76.2 × 101.6 cm); panel, 40 × 50 inches (101.6 × 127 cm). A curtain rises in Paris, and on Michael Jackson: Seated in three-quarter profile, dressed in red, the singer looks at the viewer, his hands resting on a closed book. Around him unfold columns, drapery and perspectives, opening out onto a twilight landscape. The solemnity of the ceremonial portrait meets the magic of Neverland. At the centre of this scene, the book remains closed. Completed in December 1989 by Brett-Livingstone Strong, *The Book* is reputed to be the only painted portrait for which Michael Jackson personally posed. It arose from a friendship and an artistic collaboration, and was subsequently unveiled to the public in the singer’s presence. The work thus forms part of Jackson’s history as much as it does of his public image. The painting was created at the end of the decade that propelled Michael Jackson to global fame. Following *Off the Wall*, *Thriller* and *Bad*, his silhouette, his gestures and his costumes formed a language recognised far beyond the realm of music. Strong chose to freeze this movement. His face is attentive, his pose restrained; the spectacle unfolds around the subject. The Renaissance-inspired outfit, the fabrics and the chequered floor give the composition its theatrical depth. The presence of Tinker Bell evokes Peter Pan and the world from which Neverland takes its name. Within the confines of a single painting, these references bring together the love of the marvellous, the magnificence and the attachment to childhood that permeate Jackson’s world. The title “The Book”, however, draws the eye to a discreet object. At the 1990 unveiling, Strong spoke of the book’s importance to Jackson, whilst noting that the singer wished to keep its title secret. The account subsequently published by the Jackson-Strong Alliance identifies it as a notebook in which the singer recorded ideas, drawings and song lyrics, and which the two men called ‘The Book’. This interpretation lends the portrait a special dimension: Jackson holds the vessel of his creations on his lap. The closed book leaves the viewer free to imagine the pages, sketches and projects it contains. An Australian painter and sculptor, Strong had been collaborating with Jackson since the 1980s. In 1984, he notably created bronze reliefs for the burns centre supported by the singer, according to the history published by the Jackson-Strong Alliance. Their relationship developed into an artistic partnership formalised in 1989. Strong recalls an artist who loved to draw whilst listening to music and found this practice a moment of relaxation. According to his account, Jackson also contributed to the creation of the portrait, although the exact nature of his involvement is not specified. *The Book* is Strong’s work, inspired by this close relationship with his subject. On 26 January 1990, Michael Jackson attended the unveiling of the painting at the Beverly Hilton, alongside Strong and Hiromichi Saeki, chairman of PAX Corporation. Photographs of the event bring together the singer, the painter, the buyer and the artwork: they physically anchor the portrait within a moment of Jackson’s public life. The purchase, announced at 2.1 million dollars, received international coverage. This sum, combined with a deal encompassing the painting and licensing rights, left a lasting mark on its history. The terms of this agreement were subsequently amended. Limited editions signed by Jackson and Strong made the work available to collectors. This work is the original painting from which those editions were produced. Long held in a private collection, it was exhibited once more in Harlem in July 2009, a few days after the singer’s death. In January 1990, Michael Jackson stood in front of *The Book* to unveil it to the public. More than three decades later, it is this very same painting that meets the eye: the red velvet, the magic of Neverland, the book closed over his creations. The publishers have circulated images of the signed edition, but only one collector will be able to own the original.

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