CHRISTOPHER LE BRUN

When Christopher Le Brun established his reputation is the mid 1980s it was as one of the most ambitious painters at work in Europe.

Since then, Le Brun's paintings, often filled with horses, forests and trees have represented an eloquent attempt to fuse abstract and figurative impulses and to enrich painting by building from the art of the past and to invigorate subject matter through recourse to mythology.

Christopher Le Brun

1951                 
born in Portsmouth

1970-74         
D.F.A., Slade School of Fine Art, London

1974-75         
M.A., Chelsea School of Art, London

1976-83         
visiting lecturer Brighton, Slade and Wimbledon Schools of Art

1978         
John Moores XI, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (prize winner)

1980         
John Moores XII, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (prize winner)

1983         
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Printmakers Commission Award

1984         
designs for a revival of Ballet Imperial (Choreographer: George Balanchine) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London

1987-88         
guest of the Berlin Artists' Programme of the DAAD

1990-95         
Trustee, Tate Gallery, London

1992-97        
Wagner, four painting commission based on the Ring Cycle

1995-96         
The Parables, Jerusalem Trust Commission for Liverpool Cathedral

1996-2003        
Trustee, National Gallery, London

1996                 
elected to the Royal Academy

1999-2000         
National Portrait Gallery Commission, Portrait of George Steiner

2000-2002         
Professor of Drawing, Royal Academy

2000-2005        
Trustee, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

2003 -         
Trustee, The Prince's Drawing School, London

2005
sculpture installation 'Union' at Museum of London

Turner Medal Watercolour Prize, RA Summer Exhibition

2006
designs the 2007 Britannia bullion coin for the Royal Mint

2007
British Art Medal Society commission
Royal Mint commission to design 50 pence coin to celebrate 250th anniversary of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

2008
shortlisted for the Ebsfleet Landmark Commission
sculpture commission the old Stock Exchange site, City of London

2009
sculpture commission St Helier, Jersey

Lives and works in London and Suffolk


Solo Exhibitions

1980         
Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London (drawings)

1981         
Gillespie-Laage-Salomon, Paris

1982         
Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London

1983         
Sperone Westwater, New York

1985         
Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London
The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh
Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol
Kunsthalle, Basel

1986         
Sperone Westwater, New York

1987                
New Edition Prints and Monotypes by Christopher Le Brun, Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London

1988                
daadgalerie, Berlin
Sperone Westwater, New York
Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne

1989         
Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London

1991         
Fifty Etchings, Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London
Galerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent

1992         
Art Center, Pasadena
L.A. Louver Gallery, Venice, California

1994         
Galerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent
Marlborough Fine Art, London

1995        
Astrup Fearnley Museum for Modern Art, Oslo
Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow

1995        
Four Riders: states and progress-proofs, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

1996                 
Monotypes 1986-96, Marlborough Graphics, London

1997                 
The Art of Etching, Courtauld Prints and Drawings Gallery, London
Galerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent

1998                 
Recent work, Marlborough Fine Art, London
Ainscough Gallery, Liverpool

1999                 
Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, Texas

2000         
Galleri Christian Dam, Oslo
50 Projects in 50 Weeks, Fig-1, London, 27 June - 1 July

2001                 
Works on Paper, University Gallery, University of
Northumbria, Newcastle
Galerie J. Aasen, Aalesund, Norway
Cloud Metaphor, Pollock Gallery, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas.
Paintings, Sculpture, Prints, Marlborough Fine Art, London
The Wagner Series 1994: Prints by Christopher Le Brun, Henry Cole Wing, V&A Museum, London

2002                
Galleri Christian Dam, Copenhagen

2003                
The Motif is Painting Itself, Galerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent

2003-4        
Venice Pictures, Galleria Sottoportego, Venice
Marlborough Graphics, London

2004                
The Given - Paintings and Watercolours 2000-2004,
Marlborough Chelsea, New York

2005                
Lichfield Cathedral - invited artist Lichfield Arts Festival
50 Etchings 2005, Paragon Press, Frieze Art Fair London
Drawings, Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin

2008                
Christopher Le Brun, The New Art Gallery, Walsall
Christopher Le Brun Fifty Etchings 2005, Fitzwilliam Museum

2009                
Christopher Le Brun Landscapes, Hohenthal und Bergen, Berlin


Group Exhibitions

1975         
London Group, Camden Arts Centre, London

1977         
London Group, Camden Arts Centre, London

1978         
John Moores Exhibition XI, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

1979         
Summer Show III, Serpentine Gallery, London
The Craft of Art, Peter Moores Exhibition VI, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

1980
Nigel Greenwood Gallery, London
Nuova Immagine, Palazzo della Triennale, Milan
Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
John Moores Exhibition XII, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

1981         
Enciclopedia, Galleria Civica, Modena
Fragments against Ruins, Arts Council
Exhibition, Midland Group Exhibition and tour
XIII Festival international de la Peinture 1981, Cagnes-sur-Mer

1981-82         
Thirteen British Artists - An Exhibition about painting,
Neue Galerie-Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen; Kunstverein Mannheim;
Kunstverein Braunschweig; Bündner Kunstverein, Switzerland

1982
Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
Vision in Disbelief, Sydney Biennale
Mythe, Drame, Tragédie, Musée d'Art Moderne, Sainte-Étienne
Aperto '82, Venice Biennale
Zeitgeist, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin

1982-83         
Myth, Bonlow Gallery, New York

1983         
The Granada Collection - Recent British Paintings and
Drawings, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
Tema Celeste, Museo Civico d'Arte Contemporanea,Gibellina, Sicily
La Forma e L'Informe, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Bologna
New Art, Tate Gallery, London

1984                
Il Riso del Universo, San Giovanni Valdarno, Florence
Arte allo Specchio, Venice Biennale
An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Sperone Westwater, New York
Currents, I.C.A., Boston
Eine misslungene Ausstellung, Galerie Tanit, Munich (selected by Gerhard Merz)
Dessins, Gillespie-Laage-Salomon, Paris
The Image as Catalyst, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Artists Design for Dance, Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol

1985         
Selections from the William J. Hokin Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The British Show, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne; New Zealand National Gallery of Art, Wellington
Nouvelle Paris Biennale, Paris
Romanticism and Primitivism in Art, Lowenadler Gallery, New York
Modern Landscape, Sunderland Arts Centre
Horses in 20th Century Art, Nicola Jacobs Gallery, London
Phase II, Stadmuseum, Graz
One City a Patron, Southampton City Art Gallery; touring to
Glasgow, Dundee, Perth, Ayr and Edinburgh

1986                 
Forty Years of Modern Art, Tate Gallery, London
Second Sight - Biennale IV, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
Matière Première, CAC Corbeil, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Calais and Galerie Municipale d'Art Contemporain Saint-Priest
Falls the Shadow: Recent British and European Art, Hayward Gallery, London
Tradition and Innovation, Harmony Hill Arts Centre, Lisburn, Northern Ireland
Twelve British Artists, Künstlerhaus, Vienna
American/European Painting and Sculpture, L.A. Louver Gallery, Venice, California
Forty Works on Paper, Ingrid Raab Gallery, London

1987                 
The Golden Thread, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston
Current Affairs: British Painting and Sculpture in the 1980's, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford; Mucsarnok, Budapest; National Gallery, Prague; Zacheta, Warsaw
Paintings & Monotypes, (Le Brun, Oulton, Walker), Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa Barbara
L.A. Louver Gallery, Venice, California
Avant-Garde in the Eighties, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
London/Berlin, Ingrid Raab Gallery, London
Malerei in Europa II, Karl Pfefferle Gallery, Munich
Introducing With Pleasure: Selections from the Arts Council Collection, Royal Festival Hall, London, touring to Brighton, Plymouth, Rochester, Stockport & Durham (selected by Kate Adie)
Art Brittiskt 1980 Tal, Liljevalchs Museum, Stockholm
Britannia - Paintings and Sculpture of the1980's, Sara Hilden Museum, Tampere, Finland
Cries and Whispers - New Works for the British Council Collection, touring Australia and New Zealand
Land: Sea: Air, Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury College of Art and Design; Djangoly Gallery, Nottingham University
Viewpoint - British Art of the 1980's, The Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels
Prints, Laurie Rubin Gallery, New York
Myth and Mystery, Maloney Gallery, Santa Monica
Prints from the Collection, Tate Gallery, London

1987 - 88
Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Collection, Baltimore Museum of Art and tour

1988         
Artists in National Parks, V&A Museum, London and tour
The British Picture, L.A. Louver, Venice, California
The Romantic Tradition, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham; El Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid
Collaborations in Monotype, University Art Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara; Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin; Cleveland Museum of Art
Les Années 80: A la surface de la Peinture , Centre d'Art
Contemporain, Abbaye Saint-André, Meymac
R.O.S.C. '88, The Guinness Hop Store, Dublin
An Eclectic Eye, Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Bridge Centre for Contemporary Art, El Paso, Texas, and tour
The New British Painting, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati travelled to Chicago, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin

1989                
The School of London, Works on paper, Odette Gilbert Gallery, London
Singular Visions, Mead Gallery, University of Warwick; Pomeroy
Purdy Gallery, London
The Forces of Nature, Manchester City Art Gallery; Harris Museum, and Art Gallery Preston

1990         
The Reconsecration of Abstraction, Thaddeus Ropac Gallery, Salzburg
The Art of Drawing, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo
British Art Now: A Subjective View, British Council exhibition in
Japan; travelled to Setegaya Museum, Fukuoka Museum, Nagoya
City Art Museum, Tochiga Museum of Fine Arts, Hyogo Museum of Modern Art, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art

1991         
Melankoli: Nordisk Romantisk Malerie, Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus

1992         
Des Dessins, Centre Scolaire et Sportif des Deux Thielles le Landeron; Kunstsammlung Basel, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel (selected by Martin Disler)

1993         
Mixed Exhibition, February, Marlborough Fine Art, London
De Chirico et ses Conséquences Post-Métaphysiques, Artcurial,Paris
Modern Graphic Art in Britain, British Museum, London
Painters as Printmakers, Art Space Gallery, London
Drawing on these Shores, Harris Museum, Preston and tour
Contemporary Prints, Recent Gifts to the Collection, Tate Gallery

1994         
Accrochage, Marlborough Fine Art, London
Extremes Meet, Galerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent,
Le Brun, Campbell, Oulton, Marlborough Gallery Inc, New York

1995                 
Dialogue with De Kooning, Royal College of Art, London
An American Passion, The Susan Kasen Summer and Robert D.
Summer Collection of Contemporary British Painting, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow; Royal College of Art, London
Impressions of Nature, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Art Works: The Paine Webber Collection of Contemporary Masters, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, tour to Detroit, Boston, Minneapolis, San Diego, Miami
Contemporary British Art in Print, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven; McNay Museum, San Antonio, Texas

1996                 
Christopher Le Brun, Piero Pizzi Cannella, Jaume Plensa, Galerie Vidal-Saint Phalle, Paris
The East Wing Collection of Contemporary Art, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London
A Century of European Prints, Marlborough Graphics, London
Recent Publications, Marlborough Graphics, London

1997                 
Christopher Le Brun, Ludwig Vandevelde Recent Work, Galerie Fortlaan17, Ghent

1998                 
Isn't it too early for the eighties yet?, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Malmö, Sweden

1999                 
Contemporary British Landscape, Flowers East, London
Light of the World, Edinburgh City Art Centre, Edinburgh
'45-99 A Personal View of British Painting and Sculpture, selected by Bryan Robertson, Kettles Yard, Cambridge, travelling to City Art Gallery, Leicester

2000                 
Modern art despite Modernism, Museum of Modern Art New York
Recent Portrait Commissions, National Portrait Gallery, London
Encounters: New Art from Old, The National Gallery, London
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy
The Landscape Revisited, (Le Brun, Hodgkin, Bartlett) The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Le Brun, Campbell, Oulton, Davies, Raab Galerie, Berlin
Anatomy of Melancholy, Galerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent
Bronze: an exhibition of contemporary sculpture,Holland Park, London
Painting and Patronage, Faisalia Building, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Deutsche Bank, London
Assig, Kirkeby, Le Brun, Plensa, Tal-Coat, Galerie Vidal Saint-Phalle, Paris
Painting, Galerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent, Belgium
New Art Centre Sculpture Park and Gallery, Roche Court, Wiltshire

2001         
Art Works. British and German Contemporary Works from the
Collection 1960-2000, Deutsche Bank, London
20th Century British Art James Hyman Fine Art, London
New Commissions, New Art Centre Sculpture Park, Roche Court, Wiltshire

2002                
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy

2003                
Escuela de Londres, Marlborough Madrid; Centro Cultural Caja de Granada; Puerta Real, Granada
Representing the World, Frisseras Museum, Athens
Unpacked II, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Hope Sufferance- Contemporary British Art in Print, Graphic Studio Gallery, Dublin
Christopher Le Brun, Bill Jacklin, Prints, North House Gallery, Manningtree
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy
Sterling Stuff- Sculpture in Silver, Royal Academy, London

2004                 
Wiedergefundene Malerei, Paintings by Christopher Le Brun, Gerd
van Dulmen, Markus Lupertz, Odd Nerdrum, Thomas Schindler, Raab Galerie, Berlin
Presence, St. Paul's Cathedral, London
Bestiae Animatae (Bezielde Dieren), Cobra Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Amstelveen
A Particular View, Galleria Alessandro Bagnai, exhibited in Florence and Siena

2004-2005
Line and Colour, James Hyman Gallery, London

2005
Contemporary Voices, Museum of Modern Art, New York
The Spirit of Landscape in British Printmaking, V&A, London
Drawings, Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin
Gardens of Earthly Delight, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin and Irish tour and to Flowers Graphics, London
International Artists, Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy

2006                
Morandi's Legacy: Influences on British Art, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, Cumbria touring to the Estorick Collection, London
Cross Reference, Galerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent
Anthropography III, Frissiras Museum, Athens
Drawing Inspiration, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, Cumbria
Gardens of Earthly Delight, Flowers Graphics, London
Spotlight - Works on Paper by Twentieth Century and Contemporary Artists, Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta
Literary Circles, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Drawing from Turner, Tate Britain, London

2007                
Venice: City of Dreams? Sotheby's London
Sweet Powder, Prints from Atelier Michael Woolworth, Grande Galeries - Aitre Saint-Maclou, Ecole Regionale des Beaux-Arts de Rouen
Modern Art Now: From Hockney to Hepworth to Hirst, touring to four National Trust houses and the Aldeburgh Festival: Nunnington Hall, Stowe School, Aldeburgh Festival, Erddig, and Petworth House
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy
Group Show, (Ayres, Frost, Le Brun, Virtue) The Drawing Schools Gallery, Eton College
Land, Sea and in the Air, Galerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent
The ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London

2008                
Hugh Stoneman: The Printmaker's Studio, Tate St Ives, Cornwall
Exacting Standards a tribute to Hugh Stonman, master printer 1947-2005, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, Cornwall
On Time, Courtauld Institute East Wing Collection 8, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London
Brilliant, Northern Print, Newcastle upon Tyne
Buren, Deacon, Le Brun, Wallinger, Whiteread, Ebbsfleet Landmark Proposals, Bluewater, Kent
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy
Four Painters, Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta
UBS Openings: Paintings from the 1980's, Tate Modern, London
Fresh Out of the Box: Recent Acquisitions, The New Art Gallery, Walsall
Winter Journey, Art Space Gallery, Michael Richardson Contemporary Art, London

2009                
Artist's Proof, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin touring to Wexford, Bristol, Bray, Belfast, Monaghan to 2010
7th British International Mini Print Exhibition, invited artist,
Printmakers Council Gallery, London and touring till 2010
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy
Rauminszeneriungen, Schlosspark Wendlinghausen, Dörentrup
Past, Present, Future #2, Galerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent


Public Collections

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
Contemporary Art Society, London
Courtauld Gallery, London
Department of the Environment, London
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Hamilton Art Gallery, Ontario
Harris Museum, Preston
High Museum, Atlanta
Ile de France Regional Fund
Isle of Man Arts Council
John Creasey Museum, Salisbury Liverpool Cathedral
Malmö Doershus, Malmö
Maclaurin Art Gallery, Ayr
McNay Museum, San Antonio, Texas
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo
Museum of Modern Art, New York Museum of London
National Portrait Gallery, London
The New Art Gallery, Walsall
Power Gallery, University of Sydney
Royal Academy, London
Rooseum, Malmö
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
University of Liverpool
University of Tasmania, Hobart
University of Texas, Austin
University of the Arts Drawings Archive, London
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