Biography
1918 Born 8 February in St Ives, Cornwall, only son of W H Lanyon, amateur photographer and musician. Educated at St Erbyn's School, Penzance and Clifton College 1936-37 Studied at the Penzance School of Art 1937 Met Adrian Stokes who probably gave him his first introduction to contemporary painting and sculpture and who advised him to go to the Euston Road School 1938 Studied at Euston Road School for four months under Victor Pasmore 1939 Meet Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo who had moved to St Ives on the outbreak of war and received private art tuition from Ben Nicholson.

The character of his work changed completely and he became very involved with making constructions. Throughout the forties the influence of Nicholson and Gabo remained strongly visible in his work 1940-45 Served in the Royal Air Force in the Western Desert, Palestine and Italy. 1946 Married Sheila St John Browne Six children born between 1947 and 1957. 1946-47 Active member of the Crypt Group of Artists, St Ives. 1948 Travelled around Italy in the summer. 1949 Founder member of Penwith Society of Arts in Cornwall.

First one-man exhibition at the Lefevre Gallery, London 1950. Began teaching at the Bath Academy of Art, Corsham (until 1957) where William Scott was senior painting master Invited by Arts Council to contribute to their Festival of Britain exhibition 1953. Spent four months living in Italy on Italian government scholarship Elected member of the Newlyn Society of Artists. 1954 Awarded Critics Prize, by the British section of the International Association of Art Critics. 1957-60 Ran art school, St Peter's Loft at St Ives with Terry Frost and William Redgrave. 1957 Visited New York for his first one-man show there, with Catherine Viviano Gallery and met Rothko, Motherwell and other artists, critics and collectors. He greatly admired the new American painting he saw both in Tate's exhibition 'Modern Art in the United States' and on his trip to New York. Rothko's work particularly thrilled him.

While Lanyon was becoming increasingly conscious of the English landscape tradition American art speeded his development towards a looser and more open kind of painting. 1959 Awarded second prize, 2nd John Moores Exhibition, Liverpool Began gliding, as he explained 'to get a more complete knowledge of the landscape'. 1961 Elected Chairman of the Newlyn Society of Artists, Cornwall Elected Bard of Cornish Gorsedd for services to Cornish art. 1962 Spent seven months painting mural commissioned for house of Stanley J Seeger, New Jersey. 1963 Spent three months as visiting painter, San Antonio Art Institute, Texas Visited Mexico. 1964 Visited Prague and Bratislava to lecture for the British Council Died 31 August at Taunton, as a result of injuries received in a gliding accident.

One-Man Exhibitions
1949 Lefevre Gallery, London 'Paintings by Leila Caetani and Peter Lanyon', 1951 Downing's Bookshop, St Ives 1952 Gimpel Fils, London 1954 Gimpel Fils, London 1955 City Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth 1957 Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York 1958 Gimpel Fils, London 1959 Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York 1960 Gimpel Fils, London 1961 Sao Paulo Bienale, Brazil 1962 Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York Sail Loft Gallery, St Ives Gimpel Fils, London 1963 Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Texas Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York Arts Council Gallery, Cambridge 'Three Contemporary Painters' (with Henry Mundy and Ceri Richards) and touring: King's Lynn, Glasgow Midland Group Gallery, Nottingham 1964 Catherine Viviano Gallery, New York Gimpel and Hanover Galerie, Zurich 1968 Arts Council, Tate Gallery, London 'Peter Lanyon' and touring: City Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool 1969 Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford 1970 Sheviock Gallery, Torpoint 1970-71 Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol and Park Square Gallery, Leeds 1971 Basil Jacobs Fine Art, London Exeter University 1975 Gimpel Fils, London New Art Centre, London 1978 Arts Council, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester 'Peter Lanyon: Paintings, drawings and constructions 1937-1964' and touring: Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow KettleÕs Yard, Cambridge Penwith Society of Arts, St Ives Royal West of England Academy of Arts, Bristol 1981 City Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke on Trent 'Peter Lanyon: Drawings and Graphic Work' and touring: Museum of Modern Art, Oxford City Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth 1983 New Art Centre, London Newlyn Art Galley, Cornwall Gimpel Fils, London 'Peter Lanyon: Works 1946-1964' 1984 Posterngate Gallery, Hull 'Peter Lanyon: Drawings and Gouaches 1937-1964' 1984-85 British Council exhibition touring Ireland, Portugal and Spain 'Cornwall: Drawings by Peter Lanyon and Photographs by Andrew Lanyon' 1987 Gimpel Fils, London 'Peter Lanyon: Selected Works 1952-64' 1991 Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London 'Peter Lanyon: Landscapes 1946-1964' Gillian Jason Gallery, London 'Peter Lanyon: Works on Paper'

Public Collections
Australia Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide Art Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Canada National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Czech Republic Narodni Gallery, Prague Portugal Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon United Kingdom Arts Council of Great Britain, London Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast British Council, London Cecil Higgins Museum, Bedford City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth Contemporary Art Society, London Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston upon Hull Friends of Bristol Art Gallery, Dyer Bequest Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea Norfolk Contemporary Art Society Peter Stuyvesant Foundation, London Pier Gallery, Orkney Portsmouth Education Committee Russell-Cotes Art Gallery, Bournemouth Tate Gallery, London Victoria and Albert Museum, London Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester USA Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh Cleveland Museum of Art Princeton University, Art Museum Smith College Museum of Art, Massachusetts Yale University Art Gallery