Peter Lanyon

The Members' Gallery, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, New York
Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York, where acquired by the present owner in the late 1960s

New York, Catherine Viviano Gallery, 1959, cat. no.6;
Massachusetts, Brandeis University, Art on the Campus, 1959;
San Antonio, Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, 1963. 

Andrew Causey, Peter Lanyon, Andrew Ellis  Publishing Ltd, Henley-on-Thames, 1971, cat. no.98, p.55.

The following condition report has been prepared by Hamish Dewar, Fine Art Conservator: UNCONDITIONAL AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE Structural Condition The artist's board is providing a secure and robust support. There are what would certainly appear to be three original vertical batons on the reverse which are ensuring overall stability with no evidence of any structural intervention in the past. Paint surface The paint surface has a characteristically dry and unvarnished surface and there would appear to be a film of surface dirt, suggesting that the painting should respond well to surface cleaning should this be required. There is one small, raised area, caused by the framing hook on the reverse pushing through into the paint surface. This is in the upper right of the composition and should be locally consolidated and secured. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows the most minimal retouchings, the most significant of which are: 1) an area in the upper left of the composition, which measures approximately 2 x 1 cm, and is in a dark, horizontal brush stroke, 2) a very small spot in the upper right, and 3) a small area in white pigments just above the lower horizontal framing edge, which is approximately 0.5 cm in diameter. There are some very slight lines of drying craquelure which are entirely stable and do not require treatment. These are not progressive and are part of the natural drying processes of the artist's materials. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in excellent condition with the most minimal intervention in the past. If you have any further queries about this work, please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 5381.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

From the late 1940s onwards, Lanyon sought to create a totally personal manner of painting which not only changed the way we look at representations of landscape, but which extended our interpretation of the landscapes themselves by directly addressing the personal experience of both artist and viewer. Whilst working in an ostensibly abstract manner, Lanyon himself rejected the burden of abstraction, preferring to think of himself as a landscape painter in the romantic tradition. His work combines notational references, history and myth in a way which is entirely his own.

Unlike some of his contemporaries who sought to eradicate any reference to the landscape or the figure in their work, the landscapes and the weather of Cornwall were eminently important to Lanyon's vision, and the titles of his paintings often refer to specific Cornish places, or for works such as Bay Wind, to meteorological phenomena. This lifelong connection with the environment became more meaningful when Lanyon took up handgliding in 1959, making himself dependant upon the elemental forces of the air. In a tape recording made in 1962 with Lionel Muskin, Lanyon commented,

'I have always been concerned with painting weather. I can't rationalise what the weather does to me. I don't know what it is. It probably creates a sort of excitement in me which will allow me to paint things, and very often images come through which I don't recognise for years after they are painted. It is impossible for me to make a painting which has no reference to the very powerful environment in which I live. I have to refer back continually to what is under my feet, to what is over my back and to what I see in front of me.'

Lanyon's move towards a more abstracted depiction of the Cornish landscape developed from the early 1950s but in the second half of the decade new elements began to appear. It would seem that, like many of his contemporaries, growing awareness of painting in America was beginning to play a role. Whilst Lanyon was already aware of some of Pollock's work from his trip to Italy in 1948 where Peggy Guggenheim's collection had been shown at the Venice Biennale, the 1956 Tate Gallery exhibition, Modern Art in the United States, was much more important, giving a tantalising snapshot of contemporary American painting (only one room of Abstract Impressionist work was actually shown). Other artists from Lanyon's circle, such as William Scott and Alan Davie were already exhibiting in New York and they in turn brought back reports of new developments. However in 1957, Lanyon made the trip himself to New York for his first American exhibition. The exhibition at the Catherine Viviano Gallery brought Lanyon good reviews but the visit seems to have been most important for the opportunity to make contact with American artists such as Motherwell, Gottlieb, Rothko and de Kooning, and critics and curators such as Clement Greenberg and Dore Ashton.

Lanyon's exposure to America made an impact on his painting almost immediately. Although it is now commonplace to discuss elements of Abstract Expressionism in Lanyon's work of this time, this rather misses the essential differences between the two forms of art. As is clear from Bay Wind, for Lanyon, his experience of American painting seems to imbue his work with a new expansiveness and a sense of space, bringing the gestures that create the work to the fore and making them an integral part of the experience of the landscape transmitted to the viewer via the painting without ever forgetting the initial impulse that creates the image. There is also a brightening and simplification of his palette, with fresher blues, greens, reds and yellows beginning to become more dominant and the earthier colours of his earlier painting falling away.