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Lot Essay
Lanyon took up gliding in 1959 and this had a profound effect on his work as he translated the experiences that he encounted in the air into his paintings, collages and constructions. Other factors which also began to influence Lanyon at the end of the 1950s, and can clearly be seen in the present work, were the developments in American art, particularly Abstract Expressionism.
Lanyon, in an article in Painter and Sculptor, Autumn 1962, wrote, 'Art is often confused with imitation. A photograph is thought to be an accurate picture of reality. This attitude forgets that the camera was derived from a vision constructed by artists. No one for example had seen an angel until an artist painted one. Painting is concerned with the making of images, not with imitation. These images modify the idea of reality. The painting is primary. The painter constructs out of experience making an object which modifies and develops further experience. Without this process, experience is not communicated nor is it directed' (see A. Lanyon, Peter Lanyon 1918-1964, Penzance, 1990, p. 230).
This work, recorded by Sheila Lanyon as no. 0228 in the catalogue of Lanyon's gouaches, was given to Ernest Pascoe, who was the sculptor chosen to carve one of Lanyon's poems on his gravestone in Lelant churchyard.
Lanyon, in an article in Painter and Sculptor, Autumn 1962, wrote, 'Art is often confused with imitation. A photograph is thought to be an accurate picture of reality. This attitude forgets that the camera was derived from a vision constructed by artists. No one for example had seen an angel until an artist painted one. Painting is concerned with the making of images, not with imitation. These images modify the idea of reality. The painting is primary. The painter constructs out of experience making an object which modifies and develops further experience. Without this process, experience is not communicated nor is it directed' (see A. Lanyon, Peter Lanyon 1918-1964, Penzance, 1990, p. 230).
This work, recorded by Sheila Lanyon as no. 0228 in the catalogue of Lanyon's gouaches, was given to Ernest Pascoe, who was the sculptor chosen to carve one of Lanyon's poems on his gravestone in Lelant churchyard.