Grosvenor Gallery is pleased to present the upcoming exhibition; Lancelot Ribeiro, An Artist in India and Europe, to be shown in London from 15 April to 8 May 2015. The exhibition follows on from a highly successful series of exhibitions and lectures on Ribeiro's work that took place in India in November 2014. To coincide with the exhibition we will also be launching a monograph published on the artist, compiled by British journalist David Buckman, titled Lancelot Ribeiro, An Artist in India and Europe.
Lancelot Ribeiro (1933-2010) was one of the most original of the Indian artists who settled in Britain after the Second World War. Although there has been a surge of interest in the art of South Asia in recent years, with works by artists such as Ribeiro's half-brother Francis Newton Souza, Vasudeo Gaitonde, M. F. Husain, S. H. Raza and Tyeb Mehta sought by international as well as Indian collectors, Ribeiro remains largely neglected.
After a first sell-out solo exhibition at the Bombay Artist Aid Centre in 1961, a high-profile commission from Tata as his first patron and several more shows, he left to establish himself in London in 1962. At this time his work was strongly influenced by his Roman Catholic and Goan-Indian heritage. Settled in England, he became a leading advocate for Indian artists through such bodies as the Indian Painters Collective.
Finding traditional oil paint inadequate to cope with his natural inventiveness and seeking exciting new effects and faster drying speeds, Ribeiro experimented in the early 1960s to develop a usable acrylic paint. His restless imagination over the next 50 years prompted canvases filled with spiky townscapes, gorgeously coloured surreal scenes, disturbing heads, flying landscapes and playful wood sculptures. Ribeiro was hugely prolific. Although a series of solo and mixed shows in England and abroad excited collector-interest through much of his life, during his final years he withdrew from the art world and so became largely forgotten. Post-death, however, his story has witnessed a revival, and his reputation as a painter of international stature is now receiving its well-overdue attention.
In 2013 Restless Ribeiro, a major retrospective of the artist's work, was held at Asia House, and met with much acclaim. The recent series of Indian exhibitions have also heightened the artist's exposure and led to increased interest in and demand for the artist's work.
The London show will feature works from the early period of the artist's career, when he had begun to receive widespread critical acclaim.
April 23rd
Book launch and lecture by David Buckman, Waterstones Bookshop, 203-206 Piccadilly, 7:00pm.
April 29th
Book launch and lecture by David Buckman, Burgh House Museum, New End Square, London, 7:00pm.
