Louis LE SUEUR

b. 1942

Sculptures and other media


Louis le Sueur portrait, 1976 (img The Star Johannesburg 3.9.1976)


 

Brief C.V.

 

Born in Pretoria 1942 - moved to the UK in 2004

Further Studies

1966 Johannesburg College of Art (drawing and sculpture)

1968 Visual Art Research, Johannesburg – by invitation from George Boys

1971/2 bronze casting at Joubert Art Foundry near Hartebeespoortdam

1986 Art Foundry, Santa Fé, New Mexico

1990/6 lived in Namibia

Personal statement

I was born in South Africa and spent many hours in art galleries and museums as a child and was deeply influenced by the illustrations in Grimm's Fairy Tales. I went to the Art College in Johannesburg. Sculpture was my subject, and a lot of graphite drawing, but I never studied painting, although I've always done some. I've lived in South Africa, Rhodesia, Namibia, California, Oregon, and New Mexico. 

Professional Name

Known as LEWIS RASEUR between 1972 and 1976


 

Selected exhibitions in South Africa and abroad

 

1966 SA Association of Arts, Pretoria (Republic Festival Exhibition)

1966 Lidchi Art Gallery, Johannesburg (included in group show of 8 young artists) (19th October)

1967 Lidchi Art Gallery, Johannesburg (October) (1st solo)

1969 Gallery 101, Johannesburg (included in Group Exhibition "Top South African Artists") - 10th February, 1969

1969 Fifteenth Transvaal Academy of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture - Johannesburg - (included with 4 bronzes)

1969 Gallery 101, Johannesburg (solo exhibition: sculptures and drawings) - 2nd September, 1969

1971 Republic Festival Exhibition "Art/Kuns SA 1971", Cape Town (sculptures)

1972 Gallery 101 Hollard Street Johannesburg (included under the name of LEWIS RASEUR in Group Exhibition: Second Exhibition of Transvaal Sculptors) - 17th February, 1972

1972 Lidchi Art Gallery, Johannesburg (solo)

1972 Melville, Johannesburg (43, 7th Ave.) - 29th October to mid-November

1976 Market Art Gallery, Johannesburg (solo) - 6th September onwards

1977 Contemporary Art Gallery, Sandton "The first decade of sculpture by Louis le Sueur" - 13th November / 2nd December, 1977

1988 Sangria de Cristo Arts Centre, Pueblo, CO USA

1988 Santa Fé Festival of Arts, Santa Fé, NM USA

1991/1994 Die Kunskamer, Cape Town - group exhibitions


 

Images

 

Commissions

Louis LE SUEUR bronze in Brenthurst Gardens, Johannesburg

"Man and Woman" ("Loss of our first born"). unique bronze, 1967-1971 - Coll. Brenthurst Gardens, Johannesburg

 

Other commissions

Mid West Mining Corporation, Sandton - "Flame of Rebirth" - unveiled 7th October, 1977 (click on image)

Louis LE SUEUR "Flame of Rebirth" cast bronze polished & patinated (from carved wood and polyester resin) 75 cm long

African Explosives & Chemical Industries - Plastics Division - Johannesburg - "Pole Star", 1972 (click on image)

Louis le Sueur "Pole Star", 1972 acrylic sheet, silica flour and polyester resin (commissioned by African Explosives & Chemical Corp Plastics Division, HQ Johannesburg)

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Other bronzes

Louis LE SUEUR "Mushroom Head", 1968/9 bronze 1/3 exhibited Gallery 101 Johannesburg Sept. 1969 cat. 14

"Mushroom Head", 1968/9 bronze 1/3 exhibited Gallery 101 Johannesburg Sept. 1969 cat. 14

 

Click on image to view PDF of a selection of bronzes exhibited at Gallery 101 Johannesburg in 1969, also here for exhibition catalogue

 


 

Works in Museums

 

Pretoria Art Museum (PELMAMA Permanent Art Collection) - Donation 2009

Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein - Donation 2006

Louis LE SUEUR "Grenade Head", pre-1967 bronze 3/3 21x14x16 cm incL. base, unsigned (Coll. Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein)

"Grenade Head", pre-1967 bronze 3/3 - 21x14x16 cm including base, unsigned, exhibited Gallery 101 Johannesburg Sept. 1969 cat. 18

 


 

Reviews and other data

 

ARTLOOK Johannesburg (1) -1966 - November - Vol. 1 No. 1, p. 7 ill.

ARTLOOK Johannesburg 11 - 1967 October - Vol. 1 No. XI, p. 2 ill.

ARTLOOK Johannesburg 18 - 1968 May - Vol. 2 No. 6, p. 12 ill.

ARTLOOK Johannesburg 28 - 1969 March - p. 6 ill.

ARTLOOK Johannesburg 29 - 1969 April - p. 4

ARTLOOK Johannesburg 34 - 1969 September - p. 20/21 ill.

Rand Daily Mail, Johannesburg - 4th September, 1969

The Star, Johannesburg - 4th September, 1969

Unknown Afrikaans newspaper - September, 1969 (reviewed by Claude van Lingen)

Vaderland, Johannesburg - 9th September, 1969

DE ARTE (UNISA) No. 6 - September, 1969, p. 124

1969 Fifteenth Transvaal Academy of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture - Johannesburg, cat. 111-113a

ARTLOOK Johannesburg 60 - 1971 November - p. 29/31 ill. (as Lewis Raseur)

Louis le SUEUR "Reclining torso" polyester resin and fibreglass, ill. in ARTLOOK (71) October 1972

"Reclining torso" polyester resin and fibreglass, ill. in ARTLOOK (71) October 1972

ARTLOOK Johannesburg (71) - 1972 October - Vol. 5 No. 10, p. 28 ill. (as Lewis Raseur)

The Star, Johannesburg - 10th January, 1976 pp. 8/9 ill.

The Star, Johannesburg - 3rd September, 1976 - ill.

"Art and Artists of South Africa" (Berman) (Balkema), 1983 p. 526 - listed under "Professional exhibitors: Sculptors" as Raseur, Lewis (Le Sueur), also on p. 516

„The Dictionary of South African Painters and Sculptors including Namibia“ (Ogilvie / Graff) (Everard Read), 1988 – ISBN 0 620 12663 9 – listed on p. 376

 


 

Awards

15th Transvaal Academy Johannesburg (Chamber of Mines Medals: Bronze), 1969

 


 

Selected works on auction

 

Ashbey's Cape Town - 10th June, 2010 - Lot 191

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Louis le Sueur "Lioness", 1969 - bronze 1/3 - 19.5cm H excl base

"Lioness", 1969 - bronze 1/3 - 19.5cm H excl base

Stephan Welz, Cape Town - 22nd February, 2011 - Lot 586

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Rudd's Auctioneers, Cape Town - 8th November, 2011 - Lot 178, 179, 180, 181

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Louis LE SUEUR "Pig at high velocity", 1966 - bronze ed. 1/3 - 23cmH - exhibited Gallery 101 1969 cat 10

"Pig at high velocity", 1966 - bronze ed. 1/3 exhibited at Gallery 101 Johannesburg in 1969 - 23x22x24cm

Russell Kaplan Auctioneers, Johannesburg - 11th May, 2013 - Lot P79

Stephan Welz, Cape Town - 4th August, 2015 - Lot 600

Stephan Welz, Cape Town - 1st March, 2016 - Lot 427

Strauss Online, Johannesburg - 8th to 18th July, 2016 - Lot 441

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Russell Kaplan Auctioneers, Johannesburg - 7th December, 2013 - Lot P100 (Porcupine Head) (cat. 03 on this link)

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("Woman's torso" - 2 bronzes of front and back views - 73x64x25 cm)

Russell Kaplan Auctioneers, Johannesburg - 28th March, 2015 - Lot P155 ("Woman's torso" - 2 bronzes of front and back views - 73x64x25 cm)

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Russell Kaplan Auctioneers, Johannesburg - 27th October, 2012 - 3 lithos

Louis LE SUEUR "Headtrip I" original litho (one in a series of 3 lithos ed. 21-23)

Click on image for additional lithos and details!

 


 

Additional links and information

www.pelmama.org (do a search for "Sueur")

http://louizart.deviantart.com/

 


 

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Updated 6th February, 2017

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