François Lanzi
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François Lanzi (5 July 1916 – 13 November 1988) was a French-born artist who lived a large part of his adult life in the United Kingdom.
His life
His work
His works from the London and Chiddingfold periods can be classified into several themes. Perhaps simply they could be termed under four headings. The vast majority of his work is abstract, pure imagination, original and spontaneous. Upon superficial analysis the main themes, which repeat themselves throughout his work, could be described as, – Christ-like forms, – Stained glass creations, – Formed and deformed Human/Horse-like heads, – Landscape collages. He uses so many different media but his goal seems to be the unending search to express his deepest, almost agonising feelings: not really concerned if he uses collage, watercolour, enamel, oil, canvas, board, card or other media. He could be closely compared to contemporary artists such as André Lanskoy and Kurt Schwitters among others of that period. He does not digress form his main themes of artistic work and his paintings are easily recognisable as Lanzi. His seclusion in Chiddingfold allowed him to follow his own artistic path, often working late into the night in his fairly dimly lit studio. Paintings and compositions by Lanzi are in private collections in England, France, South America, United States, Belgium, Spain, Canada and other countries. His work reflects the isolation, intensity and creativity of an abstract artist who Michael Budd described as "the self-absorbed".[1]
Critical reviews
During his last exhibition in The Gallery, Knaphill, George Melly wrote "... he left behind him some wonderful pictures ' ... These are not easy pictures but they are important ones. At a time when gimmicks and hype dominate so much of the art world it would be a grave injustice to ignore such intense and convincing manifestations of the human spirit "[2] After exhibiting at the Stone Gallery in Newcastle, W.E. Johnson of the Manchester Guardian wrote "In a pantheistic approach to nature, his stone and sea-shell compositions and a distinctive "Fantasie Sous Marine" have something of the metamorphic quality of the work of, Graham Sutherland..."[3] He also compares his work to that of Alan Davie, both he and Lanzi passing a sizeable portion of their war years as prisoners of war.
References
External links
- The official François Lanzi web-site at http://www.francoislanzi.com
- Paintings http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile/François+Lanzi/117150.html[permanent dead link]
- Painting "Nature Morte" https://web.archive.org/web/20110725014945/http://www.artnews.org/artist.php?i=6371
- http://www.artprice.com
- fr:François Lanzi, peintre