Harold Moncreau Stevenson Jr. (March 11, 1929 – October 21, 2018) was an American painter known for his paintings of the male nude.
Eye of Lightning Billy was exhibited at the Sidney Janis Gallery in 1962 as part of the "New Realists" exhibit, which included works by Warhol (including his 200 Campbell’s Soup Cans), Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Moskowitz, Robert Indiana, George Segal, Jim Dine, Peter Agostini, James Rosenquist, Wayne Thiebaud and Tom Wesselmann.
The model was young actor Sal Mineo, and the painting was dedicated to Stevenson's lover at the time, Lord Timothy Willoughby de Eresby, the heir to the Earl of Ancaster.
[2] In 1963, Stevenson created a 40-foot tall painting of the Spanish bullfighter El Cordobes, which was hung from the Eiffel Tower with the permission of the French government.
[2] Having lived in New York, Paris, Key West and the Hamptons, Stevenson returned to his hometown of Idabel.