One of the most pleasurable experiences of this summer was the August morning I spent amid the cool beauty of London’s “private palace of art” Leighton House Museum in the company of the extremely talented British poet Scarlett Sabet.

Our chat marked the recent publication of Sabet’s second, self-published volume The Lock And The Key. The Victorian painter Sir Frederick Leighton’s home and studio in Holland Park provided the perfect setting.

There is a further connection for me with the venue; the late Malcolm McLaren – subject of my forthcoming biography – chose Leighton’s 1895 masterpiece Flaming June for the front cover of his 1989 album Waltz Darling.

//Front cover, Waltz Darling, Malcolm McLaren And The Bootzilla Orchestra, Epic Records, 1989. Design: The Leisure Process//

Our conversation was captured by the London-based film collective Blør.

View their film and listen to a podcast of our conversation on Sabet’s site here.

Visit the Leighton House website here.

Tags: Blør, Flaming June, Leighton House, Scarlett Sabet, Sir FRederick Leighton, The Lock And The Key, Waltz Darling