Roland Penrose
Encyclopedia
Sir Roland Algernon Penrose CBE
(14 October 1900 – 23 April 1984) was an English artist, historian and poet. He was a major promoter and collector of modern art and an associate of the surrealists in the United Kingdom.
, a wealthy Quaker banker. He was the third of four brothers: his older brother was the medical geneticist Lionel Penrose
. Roland grew up in a strict Quaker family in Watford
and attended Leighton Park School
, Reading, Berkshire
. After studying architecture at Queens' College, Cambridge
, Penrose switched to painting and moved to France where he lived from 1922 and married his first wife the poet Valentine Boué. During this period he became friends with Picasso, Wolfgang Paalen
and Max Ernst
, who would have the strongest influence on his work and most of the leading Surrealists.
Penrose returned to London
in 1936 and was one of the organisers of the London International Surrealist Exhibition
, which led to the establishment of the English surrealist movement. Penrose settled in Hampstead
where he was the centre of the community of avant-garde British artist and emigres that had settled there and opened the London Gallery on Cork Street
where he promoted the Surrealists as well as friends Henry Moore
, Barbara Hepworth
, Ben Nicholson
and Naum Gabo
. Penrose commissioned a sculpture from Moore for his Hampstead House that became the focus of a press campaign against abstract art. In 1938, Penrose organised a tour of Picasso's Guernica
that raised funds for the Republican Government in Spain. Penrose and Boué's marriage had broken down in 1934, they divorced in 1937, and by 1939 Penrose had begun his relationship with model and photographer Lee Miller
; they finally married in 1947. They lived at 21 Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London, which now bears a blue plaque
.
As a Quaker, Penrose was a pacifist, but after the outbreak of World War II
volunteered as an air-raid warden and then taught military camouflage
at the Home Guard
training centre at Osterley Park
and wrote the Home Guard Manual of Camouflage. This led to Penrose being commissioned as a Captain
in the Royal Engineers
and working as Senior Lecturer at the Eastern Command Camouflage School in Norwich
. He was an early staff member of the "Camouflage Development and Training Centre" located at Farnham Castle
in Surrey
. Penrose was also influential in securing passage from Europe
for many artists and finding them work and accommodation in England or onward travel to the US, including Kurt Schwitters
and Salvador Dalí
.
After the war, he co-founded the Institute of Contemporary Arts
(ICA) in London, with the art critic and writer Herbert Read
in 1947. Penrose organised the first two ICA exhibitions 40 Years of Modern Art that included many key works of Cubism
and 40,000 Years of Modern Art which reflected his interest in African Sculpture. Penrose was a presence at the ICA for 30 years. He produced a number of books, which cover the works of his friends Pablo Picasso
, Max Ernst
, Joan Miró
, Man Ray
and Antoni Tàpies
. He was also a trustee of the Tate Gallery
organising a survey of Picasso's work there in 1960 and using his contacts to negotiate purchases of works by Picasso and the Surrealists at discounted prices.
Penrose and Miller bought Farley Farm in East Sussex
in 1949 where he displayed his valuable collection of modern art in particular the Surrealists and works by Picasso. Penrose also designed the landscaping around the house as a setting for works of modern sculpture. In 1972, thieves broke into his London flat stealing a number of works and then demanded a ransom. During a BBC TV interview Penrose stated he would refuse all demands for a ransom. The paintings were later recovered as a result of diligent work by the Police. Some were damaged but were restored by the Tate Gallery. After the death of his wife Penrose loaned several key paintings from her collection to The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, a practice that is continued with Penrose's collection by his descendants.
Penrose's former home at Farley Farm is now a museum and an archive which is open to the public for guided tours on pre-determined days.
in 1960, and he was knighted
for his services to the visual arts
in 1966. The University of Sussex
awarded him an honorary
Doctorate of Letters
in 1980.
) recorded in 1946 can be heard on the audio CD Surrealism Reviewed.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(14 October 1900 – 23 April 1984) was an English artist, historian and poet. He was a major promoter and collector of modern art and an associate of the surrealists in the United Kingdom.
Biography
He was the son of James Doyle Penrose (1862–1932), a successful portrait painter, and Elizabeth Josephine Peckover, the daughter of Baron PeckoverBaron Peckover
Baron Peckover, of Wisbech in the County of Cambridge, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 20 July 1907 for the banker and philanthropist Alexander Peckover, 1st Baron Peckover. He was Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire from 1894 to 1907...
, a wealthy Quaker banker. He was the third of four brothers: his older brother was the medical geneticist Lionel Penrose
Lionel Penrose
Lionel Sharples Penrose, FRS was a British psychiatrist, medical geneticist, mathematician and chess theorist, who carried out pioneering work on the genetics of mental retardation. He was educated at the Quaker Leighton Park School and St...
. Roland grew up in a strict Quaker family in Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
and attended Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School is a co-educational Quaker independent school for both day and boarding pupils. It is situated in the large town of Reading in Berkshire, in South East England...
, Reading, Berkshire
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
. After studying architecture at Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...
, Penrose switched to painting and moved to France where he lived from 1922 and married his first wife the poet Valentine Boué. During this period he became friends with Picasso, Wolfgang Paalen
Wolfgang Paalen
Wolfgang Paalen was an Austrian-Mexican painter and theorist.-Early life:Wolfgang Paalen was born in Vienna in 1905, as the first of four sons of the Austrian-Jewish merchant and inventor Gustav Robert Paalen, and his German wife, the actress Clothilde Emilie Gunkel...
and Max Ernst
Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
, who would have the strongest influence on his work and most of the leading Surrealists.
Penrose returned to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1936 and was one of the organisers of the London International Surrealist Exhibition
London International Surrealist Exhibition
The International Surrealist Exhibition was held from 11 June to 4 July 1936 at the New Burlington Galleries in London, England.The exhibition was organised by:* Hugh Sykes Davies* David Gascoyne* Humphrey Jennings* Rupert Lee* Diana Brinton Lee...
, which led to the establishment of the English surrealist movement. Penrose settled in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
where he was the centre of the community of avant-garde British artist and emigres that had settled there and opened the London Gallery on Cork Street
Cork Street
Cork Street is a street in Mayfair in the West End of London, England. It is very well known in the British art world for the commercial art galleries that dominate the street. It is located to the north of Burlington House, which houses the Royal Academy, a leading British art institution...
where he promoted the Surrealists as well as friends Henry Moore
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
, Barbara Hepworth
Barbara Hepworth
Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE was an English sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism, and with such contemporaries as Ivon Hitchens, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo she helped to develop modern art in Britain.-Life and work:Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was born on 10 January 1903 in Wakefield,...
, Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Benjamin Lauder "Ben" Nicholson, OM was a British painter of abstract compositions , landscape and still-life.-Background and Training:...
and Naum Gabo
Naum Gabo
Naum Gabo KBE, born Naum Neemia Pevsner was a prominent Russian sculptor in the Constructivism movement and a pioneer of Kinetic Art.-Early life:...
. Penrose commissioned a sculpture from Moore for his Hampstead House that became the focus of a press campaign against abstract art. In 1938, Penrose organised a tour of Picasso's Guernica
Guernica (painting)
Guernica is a painting by Pablo Picasso. It was created in response to the bombing of Guernica, Basque Country, by German and Italian warplanes at the behest of the Spanish Nationalist forces, on 26 April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War...
that raised funds for the Republican Government in Spain. Penrose and Boué's marriage had broken down in 1934, they divorced in 1937, and by 1939 Penrose had begun his relationship with model and photographer Lee Miller
Lee Miller
Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller, Lady Penrose was an American photographer. Born in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1907, she was a successful fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris where she became an established fashion and fine art photographer...
; they finally married in 1947. They lived at 21 Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London, which now bears a blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
.
As a Quaker, Penrose was a pacifist, but after the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
volunteered as an air-raid warden and then taught military camouflage
Military camouflage
Military camouflage is one of many means of deceiving an enemy. In practice, it is the application of colour and materials to battledress and military equipment to conceal them from visual observation. The French slang word camouflage came into common English usage during World War I when the...
at the Home Guard
British Home Guard
The Home Guard was a defence organisation of the British Army during the Second World War...
training centre at Osterley Park
Osterley Park
Osterley Park is a mansion set in a large park of the same name. It is in the London Borough of Hounslow, part of the western suburbs of London. When the house was built it was surrounded by rural countryside. It was one of a group of large houses close to London which served as country retreats...
and wrote the Home Guard Manual of Camouflage. This led to Penrose being commissioned as a Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
in the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
and working as Senior Lecturer at the Eastern Command Camouflage School in Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
. He was an early staff member of the "Camouflage Development and Training Centre" located at Farnham Castle
Farnham Castle
Farnham Castle is a castle in Farnham, Surrey, England .First built in 1138 by Henri de Blois, grandson of William the Conqueror, Bishop of Winchester, the castle was to become the home of the Bishops of Winchester for over 800 years. The original building was demolished by Henry II in 1155 after...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. Penrose was also influential in securing passage from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
for many artists and finding them work and accommodation in England or onward travel to the US, including Kurt Schwitters
Kurt Schwitters
Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters was a German painter who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including Dada, Constructivism, Surrealism, poetry, sound, painting, sculpture, graphic design, typography and what came to be known as...
and Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
.
After the war, he co-founded the Institute of Contemporary Arts
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
(ICA) in London, with the art critic and writer Herbert Read
Herbert Read
Sir Herbert Edward Read, DSO, MC was an English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art. He was one of the earliest English writers to take notice of existentialism, and was strongly influenced by proto-existentialist thinker Max Stirner....
in 1947. Penrose organised the first two ICA exhibitions 40 Years of Modern Art that included many key works of Cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
and 40,000 Years of Modern Art which reflected his interest in African Sculpture. Penrose was a presence at the ICA for 30 years. He produced a number of books, which cover the works of his friends Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Max Ernst
Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
, Joan Miró
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...
, Man Ray
Man Ray
Man Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
and Antoni Tàpies
Antoni Tàpies
Antoni Tàpies i Puig, 1st Marquess of Tàpies is a Catalan painter. He is one of the most famous European artists of his generation. After studying law for 3 years, he devoted himself from 1943 onwards only to his painting...
. He was also a trustee of the Tate Gallery
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
organising a survey of Picasso's work there in 1960 and using his contacts to negotiate purchases of works by Picasso and the Surrealists at discounted prices.
Penrose and Miller bought Farley Farm in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
in 1949 where he displayed his valuable collection of modern art in particular the Surrealists and works by Picasso. Penrose also designed the landscaping around the house as a setting for works of modern sculpture. In 1972, thieves broke into his London flat stealing a number of works and then demanded a ransom. During a BBC TV interview Penrose stated he would refuse all demands for a ransom. The paintings were later recovered as a result of diligent work by the Police. Some were damaged but were restored by the Tate Gallery. After the death of his wife Penrose loaned several key paintings from her collection to The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, a practice that is continued with Penrose's collection by his descendants.
Penrose's former home at Farley Farm is now a museum and an archive which is open to the public for guided tours on pre-determined days.
Legacy
His bold and enigmatic surrealist paintings, drawings and objects are some of the most enduring images of the movement. He is remembered for his postcard collages, examples of which are found in major national collections across Britain. He was awarded the CBEOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1960, and he was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
for his services to the visual arts
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
in 1966. The University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
awarded him an honorary
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
Doctorate of Letters
Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters is a university academic degree, often a higher doctorate which is frequently awarded as an honorary degree in recognition of outstanding scholarship or other merits.-Commonwealth:...
in 1980.
Audio recording
An interview with Roland Penrose (and Lee MillerLee Miller
Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller, Lady Penrose was an American photographer. Born in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1907, she was a successful fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris where she became an established fashion and fine art photographer...
) recorded in 1946 can be heard on the audio CD Surrealism Reviewed.