Art at the Park: 'Window on the World' by Peter Le Vasseur

Peter Le Vasseur will be exhibiting his new paintings in an exhibition called 'Window on the World' at the Art at the Park Gallery , Folk and Costume Museum, Saumarez Park.

 
Orchids, daffodils with menhirs and Guernsey poppies accompany some of Peter's more thought provoking pictures concerning ecological issues of the modern world and hints of the war in Ukraine. 

The exhibition runs from the 29th May until the 21st June, 10am until 5pm daily. There is free entry and the Gallery is access friendly.

Peter has had huge influences in his life, his biography reads like a film script!

His paintings depict strong images, often linked to environmental themes, and characterised by their intricate level of detail. In the past four decades he has gained international recognition. He has held exhibitions in Europe, the Middle East and the United States of America.

Peter was born in the Channel Islands in 1938. He and his parents left as refugees, travelling to England, prior to the occupation of all the Channel Islands by the Nazis. In 1951, aged thirteen, he won a scholarship to Harrow Art College. In 1963, his first exhibition, at the Portal Gallery in Mayfair, London, was a sell out. This first show led to a further five one-man shows at this gallery over the next ten years.

During the sixties, he sold paintings to the Beatles, film stars Rod Steiger and Jerry Lewis, and many other well known people, including the Duke of Bedford and Lord Porchester. Le Vasseur had a painting in the book "The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics", which sold three and a half million copies. Fellow contributors to the book were David Hockney, Allen Jones, Erté, David Bailey, and Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. Other clients include Oliver Reed, Derek Nimmo, Michael Portillo, Ava Gardner, Clare Bloom, HRH Princess Anne, HH Prince Sudruddin Aga Khan and Lord Beaumont of Whitby.

In 1969 David Puttnam (now Lord Puttnam) acquired a commission for Peter to produce a series of paintings for The Sunday Times and the National Film Archive, entitled "The History of Cinema". In 1971 this won an award for the Sunday Times. In 1975 Peter decided to return to live in the Channel Islands with his wife Linda, where he works in a cottage tucked away in the lanes of St. Pierre du Bois in Guernsey.

In 1993 he was the first artist to win an Earthwatch Scientific Foundation Fellowship, which enabled him to document the flora and fauna of the fast disappearing rain forests of South America. He has also travelled widely in the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman. In Africa, during the last ten years, Peter has visited Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, collecting material for his paintings. He also has visited Sri Lanka and the rain forest of St Lucia to research paintings.

In 2023 the definitive book about Peter Le Vasseur’s life and work, A Brush with Life, was published, printed by The Lutterworth Press and written by Jason Monaghan. He continues to produce strong images that portray his clear appreciation of the natural world and warning us of the consequences if humankind continues to exploit its resources.