PETER LANYON (BRITISH, 1918-1964)
Marino
titled 'Marino' (lower centre)
watercolour, gouache, pencil, charcoal and crayon
50 x 34 cm. (20 x 13 1/4 in.)
Executed in January 1953

Provenance
The artist
Margaret Melis (1914-2009)
Private Collection, U.K., from whom acquired by the present owner

“It is impossible for me to make a painting which has no reference to the very powerful environment in which I live” - Peter Lanyon

Peter Lanyon, born in St Ives, was deeply rooted in the landscape that surrounded him, a constant source of inspiration throughout his career. After studying at Penzance School of Art and briefly at the Euston Road School, Lanyon served in the RAF during the war and co-founded the Crypt Group in St Ives. His time teaching at the Bath Academy of Art from 1950 to 1957 helped shape his development as an artist.

His work was profoundly influenced by the British artist Ben Nicholson and Russian constructivist Naum Gabo, both of whom settled in St Ives. Despite its remote location, St Ives became a vibrant hub for artists and intellectuals, playing a pivotal role in the evolution of British art. Lanyon’s paintings drew on the life, industry, and rugged beauty of Cornwall, especially the region’s fishing and farming communities, with his early works rooted in strong, recognizable subject matter. Over time, his style became freer and more gestural, yet his connection to the landscape remained intact.

Inspired by the American abstract expressionists and the landscape he loved, Lanyon's passion for gliding gave him new aerial perspectives of the coast, which enriched his later, more abstract works. Tragically, his pursuit of flight led to his untimely death in a gliding accident in 1964, cutting short the life of one of Britain’s most innovative and dynamic painters.

Lanyon first travelled to Italy in December 1943, where he served as a flight mechanic in the RAF. His deployment lasted two years, during which he learned Italian and explored the southern provinces, creating drawings, paintings, and constructions. He came to view Italy as his spiritual home, a bond that influenced some of his finest works. Lanyon’s first visit to Italy after the war was in 1950, when he returned with his wife.

In 1953, the year the present work was created, he spent four months in Italy on a scholarship from the Italian government. That same year, he was elected to the Newlyn Society of Artists (NSA). In 1954, he received the Critic's Prize from the British section of the International Association of Art Critics.