Christopher Le Brun

Le Brun was born in Portsmouth in 1951. From 1970-74, he studied for the DFA at Slade School of Art and for an MA at Chelsea College of Arts between 1974–75. He has taught and lectured extensively at art schools throughout the country, in particular at Brighton, the Slade, Chelsea, Wimbledon and Royal Drawing School. His first solo exhibition was in 1980 with Nigel Greenwood Gallery[4] and soon after he was included in important international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale[5] and Zeitgeist at Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin.[6] Since then, he has exhibited in many significant surveys of international art, including "An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture", Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1984, "Avant-garde in the Eighties",[7] Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1987 and "Contemporary Voices", MoMA in 2005.

He is also a printmaker, for which he was elected to the Royal Academy in 1996 (category engraver), the year in which he made his first sculpture. He was one of the five artists shortlisted for a monumental sculpture commission, the Ebbsfleet Landmark (Angel of the South) in 2008.[8] In 2011, he was the chief co-ordinator of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. On 8 December 2011, he was elected President of the Royal Academy[9] and interviewed about his role by the Guardian Professional Networks in 2013.[10] During his Presidency, he was closely involved in the most significant redevelopment in the Academy’s 250 year history.[11] His work to invigorate the Academy’s reputation is widely acknowledged. Le Brun stepped down in December 2019. [12]He lives and works in London and is married to the artist Charlotte Verity.[9]

Christopher Le Brun, Mind, 2018, oil on two canvases, 200.3 x 340 cm.

The late Bryan Robertson, former director of the Whitechapel Gallery, described Le Brun for the exhibition "Christopher Le Brun Paintings 1991–1994" at Marlborough Fine Art, London, as follows:

"On consistent terms which Le Brun has made uniquely his own, he has created a considerable body of work in large or quite small paintings, with drawings and many engravings of inventive refinement which, put all together, makes a visible and credible world of its own. An intensity of visual concept in its broad sense sustains an oddly relaxed, divergent and exploratory tension derived from the calculated and extremely variable deployment of each brushmark in its placement on the canvas. He offers us a feast for the eye demanded by Delacroix as the first requisite of any painting before it has meaning. Some of the ways in which Le Brun deploys pigment appear to stem from early Guston and, before that, from the late Monet that we encounter in the Musee Marmotton – but the world celebrated by Le Brun in this use of paint stems in essence from the romantic past of poetry, myth and legend."[13]

He is represented by Lisson Gallery, London and Albertz Benda, New York. Paragon Press, London publish his prints.

Christopher Le Brun, Follow, 2017, oil on canvas, 130 x 140 cm

• 1980 – "Drawing", Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London
• 1982 – "Zeitgeist", Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin
• 1983 – Sperone Westwater, New York
• 1985 – Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol
• 1987 – "Avant-garde in the Eighties", Los Angeles
• 1988 – DAAD, Berlin
• 1992 – LA Louver, Los Angeles
• 1994 – Marlborough Fine Art, London
• 1995 – Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo
• 2000 – "Fig-1, 50 Projects in 50 weeks", London
• 2005 – "Contemporary Voices", Museum of Modern Art, New York.
• 2008 – "Christopher Le Brun", The New Art Gallery, Walsall
• 2010 – "The Distance", New Art Centre Roche Court, Wiltshire
• 2011 – "Five Symbolic Images. Bronze and Plaster Sculptures", One Canada Square, London
• 2014 – "New Paintings", Friedman Benda, New York
• 2015 – "Colour", Colnaghi, London
• 2016 – "New Paintings", Arndt, Singapore
• 2017 – "Composer", The Gallery at Windsor, Vero Beach
• 2017 – "Composer", Albertz Benda, New York
• 2018 – "Dualities", Wolfson College, Cambridge
• 2018 – "New Painting", Lisson Gallery, London
• 2019 – "Diptychs", Lisson Gallery, Shanghai
• 2020 – "Figure and Play", Albertz Benda, New York

Christopher Le Brun, Walton, 2013, oil on canvas, 240 x 170 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

• 1990–1995 – Trustee, Tate Gallery, London
• 1996–2011 – Royal Academician, Royal Academy of Arts, London: RA
• 1996–2003 – Trustee, National Gallery, London
• 2000–2002 – Professor of Drawing, Royal Academy of Arts, London
• 2000–2005 – Trustee, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
• 2003–2016 – Trustee, Royal Drawing School, London
• 2011–2019 – President, Royal Academy of Arts, London: PRA
• 2011– – Honorary Member, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh: HRSA
• 2011– – Honorary Member, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin: HRHA
• 2012– – Fellow, Zoological Society of London
• 2012– – Honorary Liveryman, Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers, London
• 2012–2019 – Trustee, National Portrait Gallery, London
• 2012–2019 – President, Artists General Benevolent Institution, London
• 2012–2019 – Patron, Turner's House Trust, London
• 2012–2019 – Patron, Gainsborough's House, Sudbury
• 2012–2019 – Patron, Professionals Aid Guild, London
• 2013– – Honorary Member, Royal Birmingham Society of Artists: HRBSA
• 2015– – Member, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colour, London: RI
• 2016– – Honorary Member, Royal Watercolour Society, London: HRWS
• 2017– – Honorary Member, Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, London: HRE
• 2017– – Vice President, Turner Society, London[14]
• 2019 – – Honorary Member, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol: HRWA
• 2020 – – Emeritus Trustee, Royal Drawing School, London
• 2021 – – Knighthood, New Year Honours

Christopher Le Brun, SL L IX, 2016, monoprint, 152 x 103 cm.

Le Brun is an experienced printmaker working in etching, lithography, woodcut and monotype. He had long term collaborations with Peter Kosowicz and Simon Marsh of the former Hope Sufferance Press as well as Paupers Press in London, Garner and Richard Tullis in Santa Barbara,[15] Michael Woolworth Publications in Paris and Graphic Studio in Dublin. Most recently, he has been working to great acclaim with Paragon Press in London.

His continuing interest in monotype dates from 1986, when during the first of several visits to the Tullis studio in Santa Barbara CA, he made, among other works, a 60-part monotype measuring over 15 x 40m in two days. A more recent monotype project inaugurated the Artists International Print Project at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice in 2002, working with the printers Simon Marsh and Michael Taylor of Paupers Press.

In 2005, a new and extensive series of prints, the Fifty Etchings was published by Paragon Press. Launched initially at Frieze, it has been exhibited in Cologne, New York and the London Original Print Fair. Sets have been acquired by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, the Royal Academy of Arts and the British Museum in London.

Christopher Le Brun, Union (Horse with Two Discs), 1999–2000, Bronze, 469 x 255 x 158 cm. Installed in New Art Centre, Wiltshire.

• City Wing, 2009-13, 1,050 x 325 x 60 cm, bronze. A monumental sculpture was installed on Threadneedle Walk in Bank, London in 2013.

• A cast of his large bronze sculpture, Union (Horse with Two Discs) 1999–2000, was acquired by and installed at the entrance to the Museum of London in 2005. This was Le Brun's first large scale bronze.

Notable publications include Seven Lithographs 1989, Fifty Etchings 1991, Four Riders 1993, Wagner 1994, Motif Light 1998, Paris Lithographs 2000, Fifty Etchings 2005, Seria Ludo 2015–2016, Composer 2017, Doubles 2018, New Painting 2018.

• His work can be found in museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art[16] and the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[17] New York; Yale Center for British Art,[18] New Haven; Tate,[19] the V&A[20] and the British Museum,[21] London; and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.[22]

Aberdeen Art Gallery / Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney / Arts Council of Great Britain / Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo / Berardo Museum, Lisbon / Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery / The British Council, London / British Museum, London / Chester Beatty Library, Dublin / Contemporary Art Society, London / Courtauld Gallery, London / Department of the Environment, London / Falmouth Art Gallery / Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge / Frissiras Museum of contemporary Greek & European painting, Athens/ Hamilton Art Gallery, Ontario / Harris Museum, Preston / Harvard University Art Museums / High Museum, Atlanta / Ile de France Regional Fund / Isle of Man Arts Council / John Creasey Museum, Salisbury / Liverpool Cathedral / Malmo Doershus, Malmo / Maclaurin Art Gallery, Ayr / McNay Museum, San Antonio, Texas / Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York / Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo / Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego / Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney / Museum of Modern Art, New York[23]/ Museum of London / National Museum of Ireland / National Portrait Gallery, London / New Art Gallery, Walsall / Pallant House, Chichester / Power Gallery, University of Sydney / Rooseum, Malmo / Royal Academy, London / Royal Mint, Cardiff / Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh / Southampton Museum and Art Gallery / Southwark Art Collection / Spencer Collection, New York City Public Library / Stavanger Art Gallery, Stavanger / Stirlingshire Educational Trust / Swindon Museum and Art Gallery / Tate Gallery, London[24]/ University of Liverpool / University of Tasmania, Hobart / University of Texas, Austin / Victoria and Albert Museum, London / Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool / Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles / Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester / Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

• Official website
• 20 paintings by or after Christopher Le Brun at the Art UK site
• Profile on website Royal Academy of Arts
• Media related to Christopher Le Brun at Wikimedia Commons
• Lisson Gallery, London
• Albertz Benda, New York