Queer Saint: The Cultured Life of Peter Watson

From the mystery of his obscure family origins to the enigma surrounding his premature death, Queer Saint follows Peter Watson through an odyssey of the twentieth century, from high society to the sweaty underworld.When Peter Watson was murdered in his bath by a jealous boyfriend in 1956, the art world lost one of its wealthiest, most influential patrons. This compellingly attractive man, adored by Cecil Beaton - a man who was called a legend by contemporaries, who was the subject of two scandalous novels, and who helped launch the careers of Francis Bacon, John Craxton and Lucian Freud - fell victim to a fortune-hungry lover. Elegant and hungrily sexual, Peter Watson had a taste for edgy, disreputable boyfriends. He was the unrequited love of Cecil Beaton's life, his 'queer saint', but Peter preferred the risk of edgier, less sophisticated lovers, including the beautiful, volatile, drug-addicted prostitute Denham Fouts.Peter's thirst for adventure took him through the cabaret culture