Sargy Mann (29 May 1937-5 April 2015) was one of the most extraordinary British artists of his generation. Both a landscape and figurative painter, his diverse works are recognisable by their bright colour palette and focus on light. Although deeply influenced by Cézanne and Bonnard, his paintings attain a remarkable originality, demonstrating painting after painting that an impressionist style, supposedly superseded by the forward thrust of modernity and postmodernity, retained great validity. Mann was always interested, both from an artistic and scientific perspective, in the perception of light and colour as a subjective phenomenon. His paintings capture this desire to represent an experience of light and space in two-dimensional form.
"I am not a painter of ideas, I am a painter of direct visual experience"
"The paradox was that now that I had no perceptual experience of light or colour, I was free to use colour completely intuitively in order to express whatever experience I did have"
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Cristina's Garden, 1970soil on canvas81cm x 66cm (32" x 26")
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The Hotel Bar, Cadaques, 2005oil on canvas94cm x 102cm x (37" x 40")
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Penny Standing in the Hidden Garden, 1995Oil on canvas102cm x 114cm (40" x 45")
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Jenny at Cater Streetoil on board30.5cm x 25.5cm (12" x 10")
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Flowers by Open Windowoil on board40.5cm x 33cm (16" x 13")
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Farm near Marlborough, Easter 1978, 1978oil on board60cm x 66cm (23.6" x 26")
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Corner of the Studiooil on board30.5cm x 38cm (12" x 15")
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Below the Palace, 1999/2000oil on canvas109cm x 99cm (43" x 39")
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Past the House to the Sea, EveningGouache on paper38cm x 44.5cm (15" x 17.5")
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Pool & Sea, Seatown Beachoil on board35.5cm x 40.5cm (14" x 16")
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Sunset Over Lemmons Field (c. 1970), c. 1970Oil pastel20cm x 25.5cm (8" x 10")
Sargy Mann | Light and Space
Trained at the Camberwell School of Art, Sargy Mann was greatly influenced by his teachers Dick Lee, Frank Auerbach and Euan Uglow. The scenes of his subsequent years can be found in his paintings; from Regent's Park and Lemmons House to Suffolk and India. Mann began exhibiting his works with Cadogan in 1987, completing eighteen exhibitions with the gallery overall.
Education and Professional Experience
1937 | Born in Hythe, Kent | |
1943-53 | Darlington School | |
1953 -58 | Oxford Technical College | |
1960-64 | Camberwell School of Art and Crafts | |
1967 | Postgraduate, Camberwell School of Art and Crafts | |
1969-88 | Teaching, Camberwell School of Art and Crafts | |
1969-88 | Teaching, Camden Arts Centre | |
1994 | Co-Curator for 'Bonnard at le Bosquet' at the Hayward Gallery, London and Laing Gallery, Newcastle | |
1996-97 | Lecturer at Verrocchio Art Centre, Italy | |
1999-08 | Visiting Lecturer at the Prince's Drawing School | |
2007 | 'In Touch with Art', Victoria and Albert Museum London |
Selected Exhibitions
2021 | 'Light And Space', Cadogan Gallery, London | |
2019 | 'Late Paintings', Curated by Chantal Joffe, Royal Drawing School, London | |
2000/1995 | Hunting Art Prizes Exhibition, Royal College of Art, London | |
1995 | Royal Academy Summer Show, London (shown previously 1987-1990; awarded Daler Rowney Prize in 1998) | |
Ernst & Young Exhibition | ||
1992 | 'Discerning Eye', Collector's Choice, Mall Galleries | |
1989 | Director's Choice at New Academy Gallery/Business Art Galleries | |
Ken Howard's Choice at the Arts Club, London | ||
1987-89 | South Bank Centre, Touring Exhibition 'Past and Present' | |
Arts Council Touring Exhibition, 'The Experience of Landscape' Touring Exhibition | ||
1983-85 | Upper Gallery, Royal Academy, London | |
1983 | Hayward Annual | |
Spirit of London, South Bank, First Prize | ||
6th International Drawing Biennale | ||
Spirit of London, South Bank, Second Prize | ||
1975 | 2nd International Drawing Biennale, Second Prize |