This publication accompanied a 2018 exhibition by the British painter and printmaker Christopher Le Brun. The body of work explored here develops his long-standing interest in the ‘double’
conceptual and embodied duality. The arresting diptychs and single paintings provide a direct continuation of his series of prints Composer (2017), which explores the musical form of distinct yet related movements and the essentially layered structure of both painting and music. Working directly on the woodcut proofs, these new oil paintings extend Le Brun’s lifelong preoccupation with colour
in his words, ‘experiencing rather than seeing a property of the world we delight in for itself’
and represent radical experiments in the juxtaposition of colour, tone, transparency and form. The book features an essay by exhibition curator Anna Dempster exploring dualities across a number of disciplines. AUTHORS: Nicola Togneri is an art consultant and artist representative. Anna Dempster is a Fellow at Wolfson College and sits on the Fine Arts Committee, informing the College’s programme of exhibitions, events and acquisitions. She was previously Head of Academic Programmes at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. She is currently working on a book on the cultural history of Memento Mori and Vanitas and their reinterpretation by leading contemporary artists. Sir Christopher Le Brun (b.1951, Portsmouth) is a painter, sculptor and printmaker whose work has been exhibited internationally, and is in the collections of the Tate; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the British Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, among others. He studied at the Slade School of Art and Chelsea College of Arts, London. He served as a Trustee of Tate (1990 95), the National Gallery (1996 2003), Dulwich Picture Gallery (2000 05), the Royal Drawing School (2003 16) and the National Portrait Gallery (2012 19). He was President of the Royal Academy of Arts from 2011 to 2019 as well as its Professor of Drawing. He was knighted in 2021 for services to the arts. He is married to the painter Charlotte Verity. SELLING POINTS: . Le Brun is one of the leading British painters of his generation, celebrated internationally since the 1980s, making both figurative and abstract work in painting, sculpture and print . Le Brun was President of the Royal Academy of Arts from 2011 to 2019 as well as its Professor of Drawing. He was awarded a knighthood in 2021 for services to the arts. He is married to the painter Charlotte Verity . Le Brun is recognised for his mastery of colour and stroke as well as the range of influences evident in his painting, from visual sources to music and literature (e.g. in his Composer series of prints from 2017; the paintings in this book continue to explore the musical form in painting) 60 colour illustrations