Death and The Maiden

An exhibition of original works and Project notebook facsimiles at Torquay's oldest building, which underwent a £6.5 million restoration as a heritage centre in 2005.

Death and The Maiden focused on works from the painter’s 1974 ‘Project’ exploring the traditional ‘Death and The Maiden’ theme. This theme counterpoints death and decay with the potential for new life usually represented by the nubile female figure. Numerous paintings and drawings were shown which had not been exhibited in the years since Lenkiewicz’s death.

Death and The Maiden was first exhibited in 1974 at Lenkiewicz’s new Clifton Street studio, The Fool. Much of the exhibition comprised framed works on paper which were later bound, together with the painter’s original research notes, into a large folio. The folio contains more than 70 watercolours and drawings and modern facsimile techniques now make it possible to exhibit the contents of the Project notebook much as they would have looked when originally shown.

The exhibition also included oil paintings and original works on paper from the Project as well as the major works from the Foundation’s permanent collection.