Leonard French
Part of Stories from the SAM Collection
Sep 21 2024 - Mar 24 2025
Shepparton Art Musuem
Part of Stories from the SAM Collection
Sep 21 2024 - Mar 24 2025
Shepparton Art Musuem
A selection of prints from The Journey and a ceramic tile
Leonard French started his career in the arts as a signwriter when he left school at 14 years old. Known for his stained-glass creations, including the Great Hall ceiling at NGV International, he was also a highly successful painter and created work in a variety of mediums. Inspired by mythology, religion, and literature, French travelled widely to feed his curiosity for antiquity and to see the world, taking multiple trips overseas to locations in Europe, Asia, and North America.
The SAM Collection offers a taste of French’s practice in his print folio The Journey, which shows how his inspirations become images, and the small ceramic tiles emphasises his craftsman-like approach to artmaking. Both show distinctive elements of his style and his ability to make personal, spiritual artwork universal. The materiality of French’s work was informed by his training as a signwriter and his interest in Byzantine art. Produced in the Roman Empire during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Byzantine art is usually devotional and characterised by angular forms, sharp contours, flattened colour, and gold decoration.
French’s work is distinctive for his use of rich hues, either in paint or glass, and his layering of materials, such as glazes and enamel, over textured surfaces that are punctuated by gold leaf.
Leonard French started his career in the arts as a signwriter when he left school at 14 years old. Known for his stained-glass creations, including the Great Hall ceiling at NGV International, he was also a highly successful painter and created work in a variety of mediums. Inspired by mythology, religion, and literature, French travelled widely to feed his curiosity for antiquity and to see the world, taking multiple trips overseas to locations in Europe, Asia, and North America.
The SAM Collection offers a taste of French’s practice in his print folio The Journey, which shows how his inspirations become images, and the small ceramic tiles emphasises his craftsman-like approach to artmaking. Both show distinctive elements of his style and his ability to make personal, spiritual artwork universal. The materiality of French’s work was informed by his training as a signwriter and his interest in Byzantine art. Produced in the Roman Empire during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Byzantine art is usually devotional and characterised by angular forms, sharp contours, flattened colour, and gold decoration.
French’s work is distinctive for his use of rich hues, either in paint or glass, and his layering of materials, such as glazes and enamel, over textured surfaces that are punctuated by gold leaf.
Images: Leonard French in Stories from the SAM Collection, installation view, Shepparton Art Museum 2024. Photo:Leon Schoots