Leonard Rosoman: Painting Theatre at Pallant House Gallery Chichester
3 February — 29 April 2018
Experience John Osborne’s controversial play ‘A Patriot for Me’ through the eyes of British painter Leonard Rosoman RA (1913 – 2012) in a series of works not seen together since the 1970s. When ‘A Patriot for Me’ was first performed at the Royal Court in 1965, Rosoman found its exploration of gay life such a transformative experience that he returned every night for a week to create drawings by torchlight.
Three years later he revisited these first impressions, producing a remarkable series of works that conveyed the ‘claustrophobic, sometimes savage, atmosphere’ of the play, whilst capturing a moment in time when attitudes towards sexuality and censorship were on the cusp of change. Curated in association with Dr. Tanya Harrod.