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3 Peter Lanyon (1918-1964)Church Town, Zennor
Silkscreen and gouache, 31 x 25cm (12¼ x 9¾”)
Signed, dated ‘48 and numbered 2/7
€1,200 - €1,600
Fig. 5. Nancy Wynne-Jones’ invitation to Peter Lanyon’s show, Gimpel Fils,
March 1958
Peter Lanyon was without doubt one of the foremost artists to have a lasting
effect on Nancy’s life. He ran the St. Peter’s Loft art school with William Red-
grave from 1955-60 in St. Ives. It is here that Nancy first met him and through
Lanyon’s encouragement, she lived and worked alone on Battery Island in 1958,
creating her first serious abstract works.
Born and raised in St.Ives, Lanyon later attended the Euston Road School in
1938, where he was encouraged by Ben Nicolson and Naum Gabo. After serving
in the Royal Air Force during the war he held his first one man exhibition in the
Lefevre Gallery in 1949. His first one man show in New York was held in 1957
where he met Mark Rothko, the champion of American Abstract Expression.
His bright career came to a tragic end when he died in a glider accident near his
home in 1964.