Sir Christopher Mark Le Brun (born 1951) is a British artist, known primarily as a painter. President of the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

from 2011 to December 2019, Le Brun was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

"for services to the arts".

Biography

Le Brun was born in Portsmouth in 1951. From 1970–74, he studied for the DFA at Slade School of Art and for an MA at Chelsea College of Arts between 1974–75. He has taught and lectured at art schools, including

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, the Slade, Chelsea,

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

and Royal Drawing School. A double prizewinner at the biennial John Moores Painting Prize, Le Brun was one of ten Shortlisted Prize Winners in 1978, and won 3rd Prize in 1980. His first solo exhibition was in 1980 with Nigel Greenwood Gallery and soon after he was included in international exhibitions such as the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

and ''Zeitgeist'' at

Martin-Gropius-Bau Martin-Gropius-Bau, commonly known as Gropius Bau, is an important exhibition space in Berlin, Germany. Originally a museum of applied arts, the building has been a listed historical monument since 1966. It is located at 7 Niederkirchnerstraße ...

, Berlin. His international art include, "An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture]" at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York in 1984, "Avant-garde in the Eighties" at the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

in 1987 and "Contemporary Voices" at

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in 2005. He was one of the five artists shortlisted for a monumental sculpture commission, the Ebbsfleet Landmark ( Angel of the South) in 2008. In 2011, he was the chief co-ordinator of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. On 8 December 2011, he was elected president of the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

and interviewed about his role by the Guardian Professional Networks in 2013. During his presidency, he was closely involved in the most significant redevelopment in the academy’s 250 year history. Le Brun stepped down in December 2019. He lives and works in London and is married to the artist Charlotte Verity.

Printmaking

Le Brun is an experienced printmaker working in etching, lithography, woodcut and monotype. He had long term collaborations with Peter Kosowicz and Simon Marsh of the former Hope Sufferance Press as well as Paupers Press in London, Garner and Richard Tullis in Santa Barbara, Michael Woolworth Publications in Paris and Graphic Studio in Dublin. Most recently, he has been working with Paragon Press in London.

Works

*''City Wing'', 2009–13, 1,050 x 325 x 60 cm, bronze. A monumental sculpture was installed on Threadneedle Walk in Bank, London in 2013. *A cast of his large bronze sculpture, ''

Union (Horse with Two Discs) ''Union (Horse with Two Discs)'' is a bronze sculpture by Christopher Le Brun, made in 1999–2000 in an edition of three large casts. It depicts a horse standing square on four legs, flanked on either side by a large disc. The sculpture mea ...

'' 1999–2000, was acquired by and installed at the entrance to the

Museum of London London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...

in 2005. This was Le Brun's first large scale bronze. Notable publications include ''Seven Lithographs'' 1989, ''Fifty Etchings'' 1991, ''Four Riders'' 1993, ''Wagner'' 1994, ''Motif Light'' 1998, ''Paris Lithographs'' 2000, ''Fifty Etchings'' 2005, ''Seria'' 2015–2016, ''Composer'' 2017, '' Doubles'' 2018, ''New Painting'' 2018.

Public collections

*His work can be found in museum collections including the

and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, New York; Yale Center for British Art, New Haven;

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

, the V&A and the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, London; and

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

, Sydney.

References

External links

* *
Profile
on Royal Academy of Arts website
Lisson Gallery, London

Albertz Benda, New York
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Brun, Christopher Living people 1951 births Artists from Portsmouth Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art English sculptors English male sculptors 20th-century English painters English male painters 21st-century English painters English printmakers Royal Academicians 20th-century British sculptors 21st-century British sculptors Knights Bachelor 20th-century English male artists 21st-century English male artists Neo-expressionist artists