I had arrived in Hastings in 1967 and was making large scale watercolour and tempera paintings which excluded the human presence. It was only in 1974 that I began to make the first tentative exploration into how to feature human beings as the central subject matter. For me the only way to understand the extraordinary world and work of the fishermen, was to do it the slow way by drawing from direct observation out of doors. I did not possess a camera and it would not have occurred to me to use one. The first 18 months of research was spent entirely and exclusively drawing. Later, as I became familiar with the scene, I made paintings and more complete drawings could be developed. It was always important to me that the people I depicted were recognisable.
~ Laetitia Yhap 2020
Artist’s links:
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Artist’s biography:
Born in 1941 in the Blitz in London to an Austrian mother and a Chinese father.
1958-62 Studied at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts
1962-63 Travelled in Italy for a year on a Leverhulme Scholarship studying Renaissance art & Architecture.
1963-65 Postgraduate Slade School of Fine Art UCL
1968-73 Three Solo exhibitions at Piccadilly Gallery London
1988-89 Major Touring Exhibition ‘The Business of the Beach’: Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, Orion Gallery, Newlyn, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich, Camden Art Centre, London, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery.
1992 Solo Exhibition ‘Elements’, Worthing Museum and Art Gallery
1993 Solo Exhibition ‘Life at the Edge’, Charleston Farmhouse
1994 Solo Exhibition ‘Bound by the Sea’ The Gymnasium, Berwick on Tweed
More recently:
2009 ‘The Catch’ solo exhibition; Memorial Art Gallery, Hastings, with biographical film by Mark French.
2011 Fishing for a Living in Hastings and Newlyn with Vince Bevan, photographer Stephen Lawrence, Gallery University of Greenwich
2013 Fishermen of Hastings Stade De’Longhi Print Room Pallant House
2015 All Hands: A Time Before Steel Boats, Tractors and Mobiles on the Stade 1974-1995
Works in many public collections: Arts Council of Great Britain, British Council, Contemporary Art Society, Government Art Collection, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, Hove Museum and Art Gallery, New Hall Cambridge, Nuffield Foundation, Rugby Museum, South East Arts Collection, Tate Gallery, Unilever, University College London, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool and in private collections in UK, Switzerland & USA.
