Gimpel Fils is pleased to announce an exhibition of works on paper by Peter Lanyon (1918-1964) to coincide with 'Soaring Flight: Peter Lanyon’s Gliding Paintings' at the Courtauld Gallery, London.

The earliest work dates from 1944 and all periods are represented, up to Lanyon's death in 1964. Lanyon made use of many different techniques, from simple pencil drawings to different combinations of charcoal, watercolour, bodycolour, crayon and gouache. The exhibition shows the full range of Lanyon's subjects: land and cityscapes from his travels; studies of the Cornish landscape; portraits and figures; studies for larger paintings or paintings in a different medium; and representations of objects which drew particular attention.

Peter Lanyon was born in St. Ives in 1918 and became a prominent member of the artistic community that developed there in the years after the Second World War. His first exhibition at Gimpel Fils was held in 1952 and the gallery continues to represent his estate. Lanyon's work can be positioned within a tradition of English landscape painting; throughout his career he sought to express a physical experience of being in and moving through the land. Although his early works owe a great deal to Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, his respect for local St. Ives artists and his interest in English Romantic Samuel Palmer, identify him as a uniquely Cornish modernist. His work was included in The Festival of Britain in 1951, Documenta in 1959, and he represented Britain in the 1961 Sao Paulo Biennale. His work can be found in numerous international public collections including The Tate Collection; The Arts Council Collection; Ulster Museum, Belfast; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, New York; and the Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC.