Pickman
Richard Upton Pickman was a renowned painter living in Boston in the early 20th century. He came from an old New England family, with at least one known relative confirmed to have lived in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600s.
Pickman was a talented realist, with a particular ability to depict faces in his works. Later in his career, the subjects of his work were increasingly described as "morbid," "revolting," and "frightening." Despite being a known and respected artist and having a gallery on Newbury Street in the Back Bay, Pickman became increasingly alienated from Boston's art community as he continued to produce unpopular and disturbing art. One painting in particular, entitled “Ghoul Feeding,” was determined to be unsellable. Pickman offered it as a gift to the Museum of Fine Arts, but the offer was rejected.
Shortly before his disappearance in 1926, Pickman invited Thurber to his secret studio located in the North End neighborhood of Boston. Afterwards, Thurber recorded the details of that visit in a series of notes and unsent letters. In latter years, he returned to the neighborhood and took several photographs, perhaps in an attempt to discover information related to Pickman's disappearance.