Peter Lanyon

Catalogue entry

Peter Lanyon 1918-64

P11093 In the Trees 1951

Screenprint on machine-made paper 255 x 242 (10 x 9 1/2); printed by the artist and Warren MacKenzie in an edition of 8
Inscribed ‘8/8 | Peter Lanyon /51' below image b.l. and on back ‘In the Trees/ Peter Lanyon' at centre
Presented by Warren MacKenzie 1986

In a letter to the Tate Gallery dated 10 August 1985 Warren MacKenzie has written about this screen print by Lanyon: ‘Like the "Underground" [P11082] he printed & then washed off the first screen or two & then overprinted with at least three & possibly four screens. There is a dark green, white, then black in this order'.

Concerning the subject matter of the work, MacKenzie has commented, ‘Peter's titles came after the work was completed & were simply what it suggested to him' (letter postmarked 25 November 1987). It is not possible to be more specific about the source or representational meaning of the image. In this period Lanyon was following the path of allusive abstraction that was the mainstay of his mature work. On this point his widow, Mrs Sheila Lanyon, has stated, ‘If it says "Underground" it is - and "In the trees" is in the trees' (letter to the Tate Gallery dated 30 November 1987).

Published in:
The Tate Gallery 1984-86: Illustrated Catalogue of Acquisitions Including Supplement to Catalogue of Acquisitions 1982-84, Tate Gallery, London 1988, p.404

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