BLACK WING NOVEMBER 1961

© Estate of Peter Lanyon. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2023.

BLACK WING NOVEMBER 1961 1961

Peter Lanyon (1918 – 1964)

Details

Dimension
121.9 X 91.4 CM
Media
OIL ON CANVAS
Accession number
P386

Summary

Lanyon qualified as a glider pilot in the summer of 1960. ‘The whole purpose (of gliding)’, he said, ‘was to get a more complete knowledge of the landscape and … (to) combine elements of land, sea and sky – earth, air and water. I have always watched birds in flight exploring the landscape, moving more freely than man, but in a glider I had the same freedom.’ His works became increasingly dominated by his impressions seen from the air, the interplay of light and atmosphere, sunshine, clouds and rain. Elements of the glider and its instrument panel began to appear, beside swirling linear elements describing the flight itself.

From the text of an illustrated lecture given by the artist for the British Council, 1962.