London Life Archive

An independent historic house and charity for arts and the community, Burgh House is a beautiful, Grade I-listed, Queen Anne building in the heart of Hampstead Village.

Retracing Ribeiro « The Hampstead painter Lancelot Ribeiro was one of the most original of the Indian artists who settled in Britain in the post-war period. A new temporary exhibition of his works at Burgh House will launch a year-long Retracing Ribeiro programme of events, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and being celebrated as part of the 2017 UK-India Year of Culture, in partnership with The British Museum, V&A, Central Saint Martins, and Camden Archives. »

Lancelot Ribeiro (1933-2010), born in Bombay, spent his childhood in India under the British Empire. He first arrived in Britain in 1950 to study accountancy at the urging of his brother, the well-known artist FN Souza, but soon abandoned this for life drawing at St Martin’s School of Art. Returning to India, he began to paint professionally and settled in Britain in 1962. His earliest works were in oils, strongly coloured townscapes with bold outlines in an expressionistic style. In the early 1960s, Ribeiro sought new effects, experimenting with polyvinyl acetate and oil mixes - the forerunner of acrylic paints. Over the next 50 years, a restless imagination prompted works which included flying and tangled townscapes under explosive skies, brilliantly colourful surreal scenes, playful wood sculptures and ceramics. Recent years have seen a surge in interest in the work of this artist following posthumous exhibitions at London’s Asia House, displays in India, and a biography by arts writer David Buckman, Lancelot Ribeiro: An Artist in India and Europe.