GLIDING WITH PETER LANYON
Pierrette and I wanted to see Peter Lanyon’s work at the Courtauld Gallery. It’s a beautiful place and it was Pierrette who introduced me to it quite a few years ago. I didn’t know this English painter and sculptor, but had seen references to his work on Mutual Art and suggested that would be on our list to do in London. His work is central to any assessment of St Ives painting where he lived and worked, since he experienced at first hand and was influenced by Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth (remember me talking about her?) and Naum Gabo. Lanyon chose to make more direct reference to the local landscape than Gabo or Hepworth. Visual and structural information concerning this Cornish fishing harbour was combined with figurative suggestion in the final painting. What is amazing about his work that it is drawn from his inspiration from gliding which he began in 1959. Light years ago I had a German friend who had a glider and although I spent weekends driving kilom