in London with an acoustic guitar when suddenly the sky went completely black and an incredible monsoon came down. It was just people running about looking for shelter – that was the germ of the idea. We went further into it until it became, you know, rape and murder are 'just a shot away'." 1970s and 1980s, and death Fraser left the UK and spent several years in India during the 1970s. He returned to London in the early 1980s and opened a second gallery in 1983, with a show of paintings by the stained glass and architectural artist Brian Clarke, but by this time he was suffering from chronic drug and alcohol problems and the gallery never replicated the success of its predecessor, although Fraser was again influential in promoting the work of Clarke, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. It soon transpired that Fraser was also suffering from AIDS. He was one of the first 'celebrity' victims of the disease in the UK. In 1985 he sold his Cork Street gallery to Victoria Miro, who subsequently created the successful Victoria Miro Gallery. Fraser seemed disillusioned, and told her at the time "You'll never make a contemporary art gallery work in this country." He was cared for by the Terence Higgins Trust during his final illness and died in January 1986. He died at his mother's flat in London. Sources Vyner, Harriet. Groovy Bob: The Life and Times of Robert Fraser. United Kingdom: Faber (1999); HENI Publishing (2017). Clarke, Brian; Vyner, Harriet. A Strong Sweet Smell of Incense: A Portrait of Robert Fraser. United Kingdom: PACE London/HENI Publishing (2015). Footnotes 1937 births 1986 deaths People educated at Eton College King's African Rifles officers Art dealers from London AIDS-related deaths in England 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century art collectors