Sotheby’s will be presenting a set of 92 portraits of UK-based artists from the 1960s to the 1990s by Jorge Lewinski. Seen together, the photographs provide one of the most comprehensive surveys of the British art scene for over three decades.
Born in Lvov in Poland (now Lviv in Ukraine) in 1921, Jorge Lewinski arrived in Britain in 1942 to serve with the RAF. While studying economics in London after the end of WWII, Lewinski took up photography. Unlike his contemporaries David Bailey and Brian Duffy, Lewinski focused on documenting fellow artists rather than celebrities and movie stars of the swinging sixties.
Throughout his eminent career, Lewinski developed a remarkable portrait of the evolution of post-war British art. He often photographed artists in their studios, giving an insight into their creative processes and working lives. Among his numerous sitters were Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon, Barbara Hepworth and Bridget Riley.
Courtesy Sotheby’s
