NGA-Jacques-Emile Blanche painted portraits of many artists and writers, including this portrait, Charles Shannon and Charles Ricketts. Lifelong friends and partners Ricketts and Shannon shared a collection of art and antiquities. Blanche wrote: ‘Their flat was filled with exquisite things; Persian miniatures, Tangara figures, Egyptian antiques, jewels, and medals, which millionaires had overlooked.’ Oscar Wilde was a frequent visitor to their house, remarking that it was ‘the one house in London where you will never be bored.’ (Blanche, 1937) (https://nga.gov.au/Exhibition/Edwardians/Detail.cfm?IRN=126203&BioArtistIRN=8568&MnuID=2) The French painter Blanche made portraits of many of the artists and writers associated with the Decadent movement, including Beardsley, Arthur Symons and Charles Conder. Ricketts is shown here on the left, next to his lifelong friend and partner Charles Shannon. Ricketts designed Wilde’s A House of Pomegranates 1891 and The Sphinx 1894. This portrait was painted at Lansdowne House in London where they lived together for many years. Wilde was a frequent visitor, remarking that it was ‘the one house in London where you will never be bored’. Gallery label, August 2004 (http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/blanche-portraits-of-charles-shannon-and-charles-ricketts-n04907)