The Gargoyle Club on Meard's Street was a regular haunt for many artists. Founded in 1925, it had been the epitome of decadent glamour, but by the 1950s had become a seedy drinking den. Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud were regulars and painter John Minton was known for his frenetic solos on the dance-floor. He committed suicide four years after this portrait was painted.