Duncan Grant took this photo of George Leigh Mallory (1886-1924) in Grant's studio in 1912. A teacher and mountain climber, Mallory made several attempts on Mt. Everest, the last of which in 1924 killed him. His body wasn't recovered and positively identified until 1999. When asked after a 1922 attempt at Everest why he did it, he famously replied, "Because it's there."
Several years ago, National Geographic had a picture of Mallory and friends while they were climbing in the Himalayas. All were nude. The caption talked about Mallory's propensity to hike in the nude.
ReplyDeleteSB Dan
True, and I have that photo somewhere. They did bundle up for the actual high altitude part of the climb.
DeleteGeorge Leigh "Get 'Em Off" Mallory was indeed what today we would call a "naturist" with a penchant for taking his clothes off at the drop of a hat - and the rest of his wardrobe as well. His was an entirely male world, where he would keep wee wifey behind closed doors. He was not uncommon for a graduate of Oxbridge in those halcyon days of dying Empire, when G-d was an Englishman and Englishmen were created in his image.
ReplyDeleteWe have to wonder just how intimate is relationship with Duncan Grant was.
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