saul leiter – paintings. | owl's house london.

Saul Leiter has documented the world around him, capturing New York mid-century, with his beautiful colour and black-and-white photographs (see my previous post, here). But throughout his life he painted, too, and both media are on show at Hackelbury Fine Art in London (now until 27 July 2013).

His paintings are vibrant and full of life, with vivacious, playful brush strokes and pools of intense colour. As with his photographs, the asymmetrical composition is exquisite. In both media, his influences are evident: the paintings of Renoir, Matisse and Bonnard. There is a lovely quotation in Nigel Warburton’s interview (more, here), which gives a clear indication of his regard for Bonnard:

‘Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I reach over to one of my 30 books on Bonnard… if I can’t find the one I want, I go out and buy another copy’.

The documentary ‘In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter’ is being shown at Open City Docs Fest in London on 21st June, and at the ICA on the 27th June. The film is an absolute delight, with Saul Leiter as the reluctant, but utterly beguiling, protagonist.