Woman in White

Leonard Bennetts (1933-2004) was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, and studied at Canterbury University College in Christchurch before moving to Australia, where he studied under sculptor Lyndon Dadswell at East Sydney Technical College. He later travelled to Britain, working his passage as a kitchen porter on a cruise ship, and settled in London. His early London career included exhibitions at Walker’s Galleries, Bond Street, in 1959 and 1960. Bennetts went on to exhibit with the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Whitechapel Art Gallery, the Mall Galleries and the Contemporary Art Society, and won first prize from the Hesketh Hubbard Art Society. In 1964 he organised the first exhibition of New Zealand artists in London at the Qantas Airways Gallery in Piccadilly. He continued studying throughout his career, attending Sir John Cass College from 1975 to 1982, where he was taught by Paul Drury, and later studying with Cecil Collins in 1984-85. His 1979 exhibition at the New Zealand High Commission focused strongly on portrait and figure painting, and in 1983 he was included in the Hayward Gallery touring exhibition Landscape in Britain 1850-1950. Bennetts later became a member of the Wapping Group of Artists, reflecting his longstanding interest in the Thames and changing London docklands. His work moves between landscape, portraiture, figure studies and everyday observation, often handled with direct, confident brushwork and a strong sense of character. Read more about Leonard Bennetts, his life, work and exhibitions in our blog.