Biography
English painter, sculptor, draughtsman and printmaker. He studied in London at the Slade School of Fine Art (1970–74), and Chelsea School of Art (1974–5), and from 1976 to 1983 he was a visiting lecturer at Brighton, Slade and Wimbledon Schools of Art. Le Brun's paintings look back both to the mythological dream-like imagery of painters such as Arnold Böcklin and Gustave Moreau, as well as to the more recent painterly abstraction of artists such as Philip Guston. His mythological subjects and expressive handling of paint were allied with a renewed interest in figuration in Europe, particularly in Germany.
Le Brun became seriously involved with etching in 1990, making a number of suites that culminated in the 1994 series, Wagner, eight etchings made with gravure and aquatint, to complement a commission of four paintings based on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. In 1996 he began making small sculptures in bronze in which he continued to use his horse and disc motifs, for instance in The Motif is not the Subject (1997; see 1998 exh. cat., cat. no. 29), showing a horse standing alongside a large shield-like disc. In 1984 he made designs for a revival of Ballet Imperial (choreographed by George Balanchine) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. He was a trustee for the Tate Gallery, London (1990–95), and in 1996 (the year he was elected to the Royal Academy, London) was appointed a Trustee of the National Gallery, London.
In 2011, Le Brun was elected President of the Royal Academy of Arts. Collections including his work are The British Museum, MoMA, and The Tate Gallery. Also, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, University of Texas, Austin, Harvard University Art Museums / High Museum, Atlanta.
Le Brun became seriously involved with etching in 1990, making a number of suites that culminated in the 1994 series, Wagner, eight etchings made with gravure and aquatint, to complement a commission of four paintings based on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. In 1996 he began making small sculptures in bronze in which he continued to use his horse and disc motifs, for instance in The Motif is not the Subject (1997; see 1998 exh. cat., cat. no. 29), showing a horse standing alongside a large shield-like disc. In 1984 he made designs for a revival of Ballet Imperial (choreographed by George Balanchine) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. He was a trustee for the Tate Gallery, London (1990–95), and in 1996 (the year he was elected to the Royal Academy, London) was appointed a Trustee of the National Gallery, London.
In 2011, Le Brun was elected President of the Royal Academy of Arts. Collections including his work are The British Museum, MoMA, and The Tate Gallery. Also, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, University of Texas, Austin, Harvard University Art Museums / High Museum, Atlanta.
Archive
Christopher Le Brun - "Day Painting" 11 7 07 oil on canvas 40x36. Contact the gallery for price.