“Nothing personal, it’s just business” – Otto “Abbadabba” Berman (Otto Beiderman) 1930s, accountant and advisor to gangster Dutch Schulz.
“The “classic” form of gangster movie… tells of a gangster working his way up through his enterprise and daring, until his organization collapses while he is at the peak of his powers. Although the ending is presented as a moral outcome, it is usually seen as no more than an accidental failure. The gangster is typically articulate, although at times lonely and depressed, and his wordly wisdom and defiance of social norms has a strong appeal, particularly to adolescents.” – Wikipedia
The Face of Evil is a developing series of four suites of paintings: Angry White Men, Mug Shots, Evil in Disguise and Gangsters.
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Gangster #1 - Sidney Kelly
Acrylic on Multimedia Artboard, 2017
10 x 8 inches
$900
Sidney Kelly was arrested many times and much was written about him in newspapers during the 1920s, 30s and 40s. He was charged with numerous offenses including shooting and assault, and in the 1940s he was a pioneer of illegal baccarat gaming in Sydney. This image appears in the Photo Supplement to the NSW Police Gazette, 26 July 1926, p. 6 captioned, "Illicit drug trader. Drives his own motor car, and dresses well. Associates with criminals and prostitutes."
The painting was inspired by one of a series of around 2500 "special photographs" taken by photographers working for the New South Wales Police Department between 1910 and 1930. These "special photographs" were mostly taken in the cells at the Central Police Station, Sydney and are, as curator Peter Doyle explains, of "men and women recently plucked from the street, often still animated by the dramas surrounding their apprehension". Doyle suggests that, compared with the subjects of prison mug shots, "the subjects of the Special Photographs seem to have been allowed - perhaps invited - to position and compose themselves for the camera as they liked. Their photographic identity thus seems constructed out of a potent alchemy of inborn disposition, personal history, learned habits and idiosyncrasies, chosen personal style (haircut, clothing, accessories) and physical characteristics."
www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/justice-police-museum/forensic-archive/mug-shots
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Gangster #2 - Fiori Guiseppe Permontto
Acrylic on Multimedia Artboard, 2017
10 x 8 inches
$900
No entry for Guiseppe Fiori, alias Permontto is found in the NSW Police Gazette for 1924, although this photo appears in a later photo supplement, in which Fiori is described as a safebreaker.
The painting was inspired by one of a series of around 2500 "special photographs" taken by photographers working for the New South Wales Police Department between 1910 and 1930. These "special photographs" were mostly taken in the cells at the Central Police Station, Sydney and are, as curator Peter Doyle explains, of "men and women recently plucked from the street, often still animated by the dramas surrounding their apprehension". Doyle suggests that, compared with the subjects of prison mug shots, "the subjects of the Special Photographs seem to have been allowed - perhaps invited - to position and compose themselves for the camera as they liked. Their photographic identity thus seems constructed out of a potent alchemy of inborn disposition, personal history, learned habits and idiosyncrasies, chosen personal style (haircut, clothing, accessories) and physical characteristics."
www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/justice-police-museum/forensic-archive/mug-shots
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Gangster #3 – William Stanley Moore
Acrylic on Multimedia Artboard, 2017
10 x 8 inches
$900
Special Photograph no. 1399. this picture appears in the Photo Supplement to the NSW Police Gazette, 28 July, 1926 captioned: 'Opium dealer./ Operates with large quantities of faked opium and cocaine./ A wharf labourer; associates with water front thieves and drug traders.'
The painting was inspired by one of a series of around 2500 "special photographs" taken by photographers working for the New South Wales Police Department between 1910 and 1930. These "special photographs" were mostly taken in the cells at the Central Police Station, Sydney and are, as curator Peter Doyle explains, of "men and women recently plucked from the street, often still animated by the dramas surrounding their apprehension". Doyle suggests that, compared with the subjects of prison mug shots, "the subjects of the Special Photographs seem to have been allowed - perhaps invited - to position and compose themselves for the camera as they liked. Their photographic identity thus seems constructed out of a potent alchemy of inborn disposition, personal history, learned habits and idiosyncrasies, chosen personal style (haircut, clothing, accessories) and physical characteristics."
www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/justice-police-museum/forensic-archive/mug-shots
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Acrylic on Multimedia Artboard, 2017
10 x 8 inches
$900
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Gangster #5 – Charles “Lucky” Luciano
Acrylic on Multimedia Artboard, 2017
10 x 8 inches
SOLD
Lucky Luciano was an Italian-born American mobster best known for engineering the structure of modern organized crime in the United States.
Charles "Lucky" Luciano was born Salvatore Lucania in Sicily, Italy, on November 24, 1897. Luciano split New York City into five crime families, heading the Genovese crime family himself. He also initiated The Commission, which served as a governing body for organized crime nationwide. Luciano moved to Havana and was later deported to Italy, living out his final years in Naples.
In 1929, Luciano lived up his nickname "Lucky" by surviving a savage attack. He was abducted by a group of men, who beat and stabbed him. Left for dead on a beach in Staten Island, Luciano was discovered by a police officer and taken to the hospital. It was unclear who had ordered the attack, but some speculated that it was the police or top crime boss Masseria. Masseria was in a turf war with rival boss Salvatore Maranzano around this time. Luciano had worked for Masseria for years, but he later supported Marazano. He helped arrange for Masseria to meet a grisly end in April 19.
Biography.com
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Gangster #6 – Al Capone
Acrylic on Multimedia Artboard, 2017
10 x 8 inches
$900
One of the most famous American gangsters, Al Capone, also known as "Scarface," rose to infamy as the leader of the Chicago Outfit during the Prohibition era. Before being sent to Alcatraz Prison in 1934 for a tax evasion conviction, he had amassed a personal fortune estimated at $100 million as the head of the infamous crime syndicate.
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre became a national media event immortalizing Capone as the most ruthless, feared, smartest and elegant of gangland bosses. Even while powerful forces were amassing against him, Capone indulged in one last bloody act of revenge—the killing of two Sicilian colleagues who he believed had betrayed him. Capone invited his victims to a sumptuous banquet where he brutally pulverized them with a baseball bat. Capone had observed the old tradition of wining and dining traitors before executing them.
Biography.com
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Gangster # 7 - De Gracy & E. Dalton
Acrylic on Multimedia Artboard, 2017
10 x 8 inches
$900
This painting was inspired by one of a series of around 2500 "special photographs" taken by photographers working for the New South Wales Police Department between 1910 and 1930. These "special photographs" were mostly taken in the cells at the Central Police Station, Sydney and are, as curator Peter Doyle explains, of "men and women recently plucked from the street, often still animated by the dramas surrounding their apprehension". Doyle suggests that, compared with the subjects of prison mug shots, "the subjects of the Special Photographs seem to have been allowed - perhaps invited - to position and compose themselves for the camera as they liked. Their photographic identity thus seems constructed out of a potent alchemy of inborn disposition, personal history, learned habits and idiosyncrasies, chosen personal style (haircut, clothing, accessories) and physical characteristics."
www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/justice-police-museum/forensic-archive/mug-shots
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Gangster #8 - Convict # 9371
Acrylic on Multimedia Artboard, 2017
10 x 8 inches
$900 CDN
This painting was inspired by one of a series of around 2500 "special photographs" taken by photographers working for the New South Wales Police Department between 1910 and 1930. These "special photographs" were mostly taken in the cells at the Central Police Station, Sydney and are, as curator Peter Doyle explains, of "men and women recently plucked from the street, often still animated by the dramas surrounding their apprehension". Doyle suggests that, compared with the subjects of prison mug shots, "the subjects of the Special Photographs seem to have been allowed - perhaps invited - to position and compose themselves for the camera as they liked. Their photographic identity thus seems constructed out of a potent alchemy of inborn disposition, personal history, learned habits and idiosyncrasies, chosen personal style (haircut, clothing, accessories) and physical characteristics."
www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/justice-police-museum/forensic-archive/mug-shots
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Gangster # 9 - H. Price
Acrylic on Multimedia Artboard, 2017
10 x 8 inches
$900 CDN
Special Photograph no. 970. Harold Price was a thief and gunman. This photograph was taken after he was arrested and charged with committing robbery under arms at a house in Randwick, Sydney, for which he was sentenced to two years hard labour.
The painting was inspired by one of a series of around 2500 "special photographs" taken by photographers working for the New South Wales Police Department between 1910 and 1930. These "special photographs" were mostly taken in the cells at the Central Police Station, Sydney and are, as curator Peter Doyle explains, of "men and women recently plucked from the street, often still animated by the dramas surrounding their apprehension". Doyle suggests that, compared with the subjects of prison mug shots, "the subjects of the Special Photographs seem to have been allowed - perhaps invited - to position and compose themselves for the camera as they liked. Their photographic identity thus seems constructed out of a potent alchemy of inborn disposition, personal history, learned habits and idiosyncrasies, chosen personal style (haircut, clothing, accessories) and physical characteristics."
www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/justice-police-museum/forensic-archive/mug-shots
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Gangster #10 Walter Smith
Acrylic on Multimedia Artboard, 2017
10 x 8 inches
$900
Gangster #10 Walter Smith
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Gangster #11 Fay Watson
Acrylic on Multimedia Artboard, 2017
10 x 8 inches
$900
Although no record for Fay Watson is found in the NSW Police Gazette for 1928, the Sydney Morning Herald (26 March 1928, p. 12) reports her arrest in a house in Crown Street, Darlinghurst, and subsequent conviction for having cocaine in her possession, for which she was fined ten pounds.
This painting was inspired by one of a series of around 2500 "special photographs" taken by New South Wales Police Department photographers between 1910 and 1930. These "special photographs" were mostly taken in the cells at the Central Police Station, Sydney and are, as curator Peter Doyle explains, of "men and women recently plucked from the street, often still animated by the dramas surrounding their apprehension". Doyle suggests that, compared with the subjects of prison mug shots, "the subjects of the Special Photographs seem to have been allowed - perhaps invited - to position and compose themselves for the camera as they liked. Their photographic identity thus seems constructed out of a potent alchemy of inborn disposition, personal history, learned habits and idiosyncrasies, chosen personal style (haircut, clothing, accessories) and physical characteristics."
www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/justice-police-museum/forensic-archive/mug-shots
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Gangster #12 Ada McGuinness
Acrylic on Multimedia Artboard, 2017
10 x 8 inches
Special Photograph no. D33 (Drug Bureau Photograph). McGuinness is listed in the NSW Police Gazette of 25 September 1929 as having been convicted of two charges of having cocaine illegally in her possession, for which she was sentenced to concurrent six and twelve months imprisonment with hard labour. Her daughter Hazel McGuinness also faced the court at the same time, on similar charges, but was released on a bond (see 'Mug shot of Hazel McGuiness'). Police and prosecution witnesses described McGuinness senior, who occupied a terrace house in Hargreave Street, as being one of the most active cocaine dealers in the Darlinghurst area at the time. A police witness described her as 'the most evil woman in Sydney'. In 1925, as 'Edith Cavanagh' she had been sentenced to twelve months (suspended) for having in her possession forged bank notes.
This painting was inspired by one of a series of around 2500 "special photographs" taken by New South Wales Police Department photographers between 1910 and 1930. These "special photographs" were mostly taken in the cells at the Central Police Station, Sydney and are, as curator Peter Doyle explains, of "men and women recently plucked from the street, often still animated by the dramas surrounding their apprehension". Doyle suggests that, compared with the subjects of prison mug shots, "the subjects of the Special Photographs seem to have been allowed - perhaps invited - to position and compose themselves for the camera as they liked. Their photographic identity thus seems constructed out of a potent alchemy of inborn disposition, personal history, learned habits and idiosyncrasies, chosen personal style (haircut, clothing, accessories) and physical characteristics."
www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/justice-police-museum/forensic-archive/mug-shots