Leonard French (b. 1928)

Biography

1928 Born in Brunswick Melbourne.
1944-47 Attends Melbourne Technical College to study signwriting
1949 First solo exhibition of paintings and mural designs held at Tye's Gallery, Bourke St, Melbourne
1949-51 Leaves Melbourne for independent study across England, Ireland, Belgium and Holland
1952-56 Appointed to teach at the Melbourne School of Printing and Graphic Arts
1953 Designs sets and costumes for Melbourne's Australian Ballet Guild production of the Nutcracker Suite
1956-60 Exhibitions Officer National Gallery of Victoria. Begins work on Campion series, inspired by the work of writer Evelyn Waugh
1958 Significant solo exhibition at the Melbourne Museum of Modern Art
1959 Awarded Peace Congress Prize - a trip to India, Indonesia, China & Japan
1960-61 Travel and independent study in Asia
1960 Wins Sulman Prize with The Burial
1961 French's Campion series is exhibited in Sydney and Melbourne
1962-63 Travel and independent study throughout Italy, Spain, France, England and Greece where he spent much time on the Greek Island of Samos
1963 Wins the Blake Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1963 Receives commission for a large-scale stained glass ceiling in the new National Gallery of Victoria
1965 Independent study and travel in the United States
1965 Samos Miniatures series is exhibited in Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide
1968 The new National Gallery of Victoria opens with attention focussed on French's glass ceiling design. Sydney Morning Herald runs the headline: 'The Year of Leonard French'
1969 French is honoured with an OBE
1970 First retrospective of French’s work is exhibited at the Art Gallery of South Australia
1971 New major series, The Raft debuts at Rudy Komon Gallery, Sydney
1972 Appointed as a member CAAB Canberra
1980 Wins his second Blake Prize for Religious Art, Art Gallery of NSW
1981-84 Completes DarkCircus series
1982 Appointed to the board of the National Gallery of Art Canberra
1993-94 Mini-retrospective, 'Leonard French: Paintings 1987 – 1993' shows in Sydney and Melbourne

Exhibitions

Since 1949 French has had over 40 solo exhibitions in Australia, including his first retrospective at the Art Gallery of South Australia in 1970.

Over 30 group exhibitions in Australia and overseas including major Australian painter survey shows in New Zealand, Canada and the United States.

Awards

1958 Crouch Prize
1959 Peace Congress Prize travel scholarship
1960 Helena Rubinstein Travelling Art Prize
1960 Perth Prize
1960 Sulman Prize
1963 Blake Prize
1964 Georges Invitation Art Prize
1964 W.D. and H.O. Wills Prize
1965 Harkness Fellowship
1969 Awarded an OBE
1970 First Leasing Art Prize
1972 Doctor of Laws Monash University, Melbourne
1980 Blake Prize

Collections

French's work is represented at the National Gallery of Art, Canberra, all state galleries, most regional galleries and is also included in many major international collections, including MoMA, New York

Sources:
Vincent Buckley Leonard French Grayflower Publications Melbourne, 1962
Leonard French: Australia, Commonwealth Institute, London, 1967
Sasha Grishin, Leonard French, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1995