CHRISTOPHER LE BRUN
CHRISTOPHER LE BRUN - Artist

Christopher Le Brun [British, b.1951]

White Triptych, 2021

Oil on three canvases

55 3/8 x 154 1/8 inches

140.5 x 391.5 cm

Inv# AB13366

Inquire

Christopher 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. He was an instrumental public figure in his role as President of the Royal Academy of Arts in London from 2011 to 2019. He was awarded a Knighthood for services to the Arts in the 2021 New Year Honours. 

 

Le Brun employs a mastery of touch and color alongside a profound understanding of art history and a wide range of visual, musical and literary sources. He has remained consistent in adhering to what he feels to be the essential poetry and pleasure of painting for its own sake, led by intuition and visual imagination and resistant to external justification. 

 

His interest in the formal possibilities of painting has led recently to the development of modular compositions from single pieces through to large and highly complex canvases, triptychs and monumental multipart paintings, extending the limits of abstract pictorial composition. A heightened awareness of the physicality of the painting process with its dramatic tension between revealing and covering, has been a central feature of his work that unites all its phases whether abstract or figurative. 

 

Born in Portsmouth in 1951, Christopher Le Brun trained at the Slade and Chelsea Schools of Art, London. In his early career, he was a double prizewinner at the John Moores exhibitions (1978, 1980), also showing in the Venice Biennale (1980) and the ground-breaking exhibition ‘Zeitgeist’ (1982) at the Martin-Gropius Bau, Berlin. His recent solo exhibitions have been held at the Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing, China (2021); Albertz Benda, New York, USA (2020); Lisson Gallery, Shanghai, China (2019); Lisson Gallery, London, UK (2018); the Southampton Art Gallery, Southampton, UK (2018); Wolfson College, Cambridge, UK (2018); Albertz Benda, New York, NY, USA (2017); The Gallery at Windsor, Vero Beach, FL, USA (2017); Colnaghi, London, UK (2015); Friedman Benda, New York, NY, USA (2014); New Art Centre, Wiltshire, UK (2010) and The New Art Gallery, Walsall, UK (2008). Le Brun served as a trustee of Tate from 1990–1995; The National Gallery from 1996–2003; the Dulwich Picture Gallery from 2000–2005; and as a founding trustee of the Royal Drawing School from 2003–2016. He was a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery between 2012-19. He was elected the first Professor of Drawing of the Royal Academy, London in 2000, where he also served as President from 2011-2021, the 26th since Sir Joshua Reynolds and the youngest since Lord Leighton in 1878. 

 

His work is in many major museum collections including Tate Gallery, London, UK; Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA; the British Museum, London, UK; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK; Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland; The Whitworth, Manchester, UK; Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing, China, and Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, USA. Le Brun’s public sculptures include Union (horse with two discs) at the Museum of London; City Wing on the site of the former stock exchange at Threadneedle Street; and The Monument to Victor Hugo on the quayside in St Helier, Jersey.

 

Download Artist's CV
CHRISTOPHER LE BRUN - Artist
October 7 - November 11, 2022
albertz benda, Los Angeles
CHRISTOPHER LE BRUN - Artist
February 19 - March 26, 2022
albertz benda, Los Angeles
CHRISTOPHER LE BRUN - Artist
May 4 - July 10, 2020
albertz benda, New York
CHRISTOPHER LE BRUN - Artist
EXPO Chicago
September 19-22, 2019
Chicago Navy Pier, Booth 237
CHRISTOPHER LE BRUN - Artist
181 Fremont Street
July 11 - September 12, 2019
San Francisco, CA
CHRISTOPHER LE BRUN - Artist
March 2 - April 15, 2017
Albertz Benda, New York, NY
New Haven's Art Scene: Always Excellent, and Now R...
New Haven's Art Scene: Always Excellent, and Now Reopening
The New York Times
May 20, 2021
CATALOGUE - Christopher Le Brun: Figure and Play
CATALOGUE - Christopher Le Brun: Figure and Play
Essay by Matthew Hargraves
May 2020
Marina Abramović and Thomas Heatherwick Honored a...
Marina Abramović and Thomas Heatherwick Honored at the Royal Academy America 2017 Gala
September 27, 2017
Christopher Le Brun: A Symphony of Colour
Christopher Le Brun: A Symphony of Colour
A3 Editorial
June 1, 2017
Ocula Insight: Christopher Le Brun
Ocula Insight: Christopher Le Brun
OCULA
April 2017
’Everyone is Excited to Learn’: Why Dealers Fr...
’Everyone is Excited to Learn’: Why Dealers From Around the World Love the Dallas Art Fair
ArtNet News
April 7, 2017
The 9th Edition of the Dallas Art Fair Opens April...
The 9th Edition of the Dallas Art Fair Opens April 6
Blouin ArtInfo
April 5, 2017
The 2017 Dallas Art Fair Opens this Week
The 2017 Dallas Art Fair Opens this Week
Whitewall
April 4, 2017
Lone-Star Attractions
Lone-Star Attractions
Sotheby's Magazine
April 2017
Review: Christopher Le Brun at the Gallery at Wind...
Review: Christopher Le Brun at the Gallery at Windsor, Vero Beach, Florida, and Albertz Benda, New York
Modern Painters
March 29, 2017
GF Watts: the Victorian painter who inspired Obama
GF Watts: the Victorian painter who inspired Obama
The Guardian
March 10, 2017
Joy has to be part of the vocabulary of art: Q & A...
Joy has to be part of the vocabulary of art: Q & A with Christopher Le Brun
Apollo Magazine
March 2017
Christopher Le Brun
Christopher Le Brun
Art+Auction
March 2017
This Season, Art Gets Noisy
This Season, Art Gets Noisy
T Magazine
February 16, 2017
Christopher Le Brun with Barbara Rose
Christopher Le Brun with Barbara Rose
The Brooklyn Rail
February 1, 2017
In the Studio: Christopher Le Brun PRA
In the Studio: Christopher Le Brun PRA
Artists & Illustrators Magazine
January 2017
Christopher Le Brun RA To Mount Two US Exhibitions...
Christopher Le Brun RA To Mount Two US Exhibitions In 2017
artlyst
December 14, 2016
Royal Academy president to show new compositions i...
Royal Academy president to show new compositions in US
The Art Newspaper
December 13, 2016
Christopher Le Brun
Christopher Le Brun
BBC Radio: Private Passions
June 7, 2015
Christopher Le Brun
Christopher Le Brun
Under the Influence
Fall/Winter 2014
Christopher Le Brun
Christopher Le Brun
Clocktower
November 24, 2014
Short Takes: Contemporary Chatsworth
Short Takes: Contemporary Chatsworth
Elle Decoration
November 2014
Beyond Limits: Sotheby’s sculpture park at Chats...
Beyond Limits: Sotheby’s sculpture park at Chatsworth
The Apollo
October 17, 2014
Don’t Miss Christopher le Brun’s "New Painting...
Don’t Miss Christopher le Brun’s "New Paintings"
Whitewall Magazine
October 14, 2014
The irresistible charms of Chatsworth and its owne...
The irresistible charms of Chatsworth and its owner
The Independent,
September 26, 2014
ARTCRITICAL PICK: Christopher Le Brun at Friedman...
ARTCRITICAL PICK: Christopher Le Brun at Friedman Benda
Artcritical
September 18, 2014
Making of Maro
Making of Maro
Lapicida Stone
September 18, 2014
Christopher Le Brun Interview
Christopher Le Brun Interview
Studio International
September 17, 2014
Christopher Le Brun: At Once Covered and New
Christopher Le Brun: At Once Covered and New
Arte Fuse
September 15, 2014
Serious Pleasures: Christopher Le Brun's Enduring...
Serious Pleasures: Christopher Le Brun's Enduring Ambition Plays Out on Canvas
Modern Painters,
September 2014
Painting the Mystery
Painting the Mystery
Royal Academy of Arts Magazine
Fall 2014
Openings: New Shows, New Spaces
Openings: New Shows, New Spaces
Whitewall Magazine
September 2014
Cultured 25: Christopher Le Brun
Cultured 25: Christopher Le Brun
Cultured
Fall 2014
Agenda
Agenda
Bamboo
September 2014
Christopher Le Brun, president of the RA, remember...
Christopher Le Brun, president of the RA, remembers working in his studio, 1986
The Telegraph
July 11, 2014
Christopher Le Brun, President of the RA, remember...
Christopher Le Brun, President of the RA, remembers working in his studio, 1986
The Telegraph
July 11, 2014
Spiritual desert theme for LSE’s new Faith Cente...
Spiritual desert theme for LSE’s new Faith Center window
The London School of Economics and Political Science
May 12, 2014
Arts head: Christopher Le Brun, president, Royal A...
Arts head: Christopher Le Brun, president, Royal Academy of Arts
The Guardian,
July 2, 2013
Summer Exhibition 2011: The Hangman Cometh
Summer Exhibition 2011: The Hangman Cometh
Time Out London
June 3, 2011
Kate Middleton goes for royal glamour in grey duri...
Kate Middleton goes for royal glamour in grey during glitzy event
NY Daily News
July 30, 2012
The Painter President
The Painter President
Royal Academy of Art Magazine
Summer 2012
Royal Academy picks first painter in 20 years to b...
Royal Academy picks first painter in 20 years to be its president
The Guardian
December 9, 2011
Christopher Le Brun becomes Royal Academy presiden...
Christopher Le Brun becomes Royal Academy president
BBC News
December 9, 2011
Royal Academy Elects Christopher Le Brun President
Royal Academy Elects Christopher Le Brun President
Gallerist NY,
December 2011
New Christopher Le Brun Exhibition on View at Cana...
New Christopher Le Brun Exhibition on View at Canary Wharf
artdaily.org
August 2011
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: The Show Critics...
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: The Show Critics Love to Hate
Huffington Post
July 14, 2011
Christopher Le Brun - Fifty Etchings 2005 Opened a...
Christopher Le Brun - Fifty Etchings 2005 Opened at The Fitzwilliam Museum
artdaily.org
May 2008
Chip off the old block
Chip off the old block
The Guardian
March 8, 2008
Christopher Le Brun, New Art Gallery, Walsall
Christopher Le Brun, New Art Gallery, Walsall
The Independent
March 5, 2008
Short List Revealed for Ebbsfleet's Public Art Com...
Short List Revealed for Ebbsfleet's Public Art Commission
Artforum
January 28, 2008
Site Index