Christopher Le Brun

This volume features a series of abstractions created over the past two years by British abstract painter and president of the Royal Academy of the Arts, Christopher Le Brun (born 1951). Some of these large-scale paintings are light in touch, while others involve dense accretions of color and gesture.

Renowned for his evocative and highly-charged imagery, British artist Christopher Le Brun’s new work builds upon a wide cultural literacy, from Virgil and Tennyson to William Walton.

Following his appearance in many international group exhibitions – such as the influential Zeitgeist exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (1982) – Le Brun became recognised as one of the leading young European painters, and is currently the President of the Royal Academy, London.

Accompanying a solo exhibition at Friedman Benda, New York (11 September–18 October 2014), New Paintings shows an abundance of energy and Le Brun’s renewed pleasure in colour and light.

Alongside full-colour illustrations, this volume includes a personal response by artist and writer Edmund de Waal, and an introduction by art historian David Anfam that places the work within the tradition of late twentieth and early twenty-first century modern painting.