Many critics regard Lanyon to have been one of the most important post-war painters.  Beginning with Constructivism he came close to Pop Art by the end of his life, a life cut tragically short from injuries suffered from a gliding accident.

Educated at Clifton College, Lanyon was taught by Borlase Smart (November 3^rd) and was introduced to Adrian Stokes (December 23^rd) who facilitated his studies at the Euston Road School before he returned to attend the Penzance School of Art.  

In 1939 he became friends and colleagues with Ben Nicholson (February 6^th), Barbara Hepworth (May 20^th) and Naum Gabo (August 5^th) and Nicholson privately tutored Lanyon, guiding him towards Constructivism.

In the Second World War, Lanyon served with the Royal Air Force in North Africa, Palestine and Italy.  On his return, he married Sheila St. John Browne (1918 – 2015) with whom he had six children, the third of whom, Matthew (1949 – 2016), became a respected artist in his own right.

Lanyon’s first solo exhibition was in 1949 at the ‘Lefevre Gallery’ of London and he taught at the Bath Academy of Art between 1951 and 1957 whilst taking time out to study in Italy and exhibit at the ‘Catherine Viviano Gallery’ in New York (1957). 

Returning to St. Ives in 1957, Lanyon established an art school, ‘St Peter’s Loft’ with Terry Frost (September 1^st) and William Redgrave and rented a studio to Francis Bacon for six months. 

When in New York, Lanyon became friends with Mark Rothko who inspired his move towards abstract expressionism.
In 1961, Lanyon was elected a Bard of the Gorseth Kernow, taking the name ‘Marghak an Gwyns’ (‘Rider of the Winds’) and spent much of the following year travelling and painting in America before returning to Cornwall.

He was killed in a gliding accident on this day in 1964.