
Delamore Artist
Robert Oscar Lenkiewicz
Robert Oscar LenkiewiczâŻ(31 December 1941 â 5 August 2002) was one ofâŻSouth West Englandâs most celebrated artists of modern times. Perennially unfashionable in high art circles, his work was nevertheless popular with the public. Lenkiewicz is regarded by some as a great painter who is âfinally being recognised as such after all these years of neglect by the art establishment, particularly by London, who would never have him. He didnât really play the game as far as London commercial galleries were concerned. He did his own thing out in the provinces, which was looked down upon.â He produced as many as 10,000 works (though this figure includes his prolific output as a pencil portrait artist),[4]âŻoften on a large scale, and in themed âprojectsâ investigating hidden communities (Vagrancy 1973,âŻMental Handicap 1976) or difficult social issues (Suicide 1980,âŻDeath 1982). In 1981, he faked his own death, announcing his demise to the local newspapers. When Lenkiewicz died in 2002, he left behind a particularly macabre legacy as the embalmed body of one of his friends, a tramp named Diogenes, was found in the cupboard section at the bottom of a bookcase. The Lenkiewicz Foundation (educational charity) was established in 1997, receiving the bequest of the painterâs remaining collection of works. The artistâs voluminous diaries, illustrated notebooks, and relationship journals are in the Foundationâs collection, which was shown atâŻPlymouth City Museum and Art GalleryâŻin 2009. The Foundation has curated a number of posthumous exhibitions:âŻSelf-Portraits 1956-2002âŻat theâŻBen Uri Gallery,âŻJewish Museum of Art in LondonâŻin 2008;âŻLenkiewicz: The Legacy â Works from The Lenkiewicz Foundation CollectionâŻat Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery in 2009;âŻStill LivesâŻat theâŻRoyal West of England AcademyâŻin Bristol in 2011;âŻDeath and the MaidenâŻatâŻTorre Abbey, in Torquay later that year; andâŻHuman, All Too HumanâŻat theâŻRoyal William YardâŻin the artistâs adopted city of Plymouth in 2012.
