Louis LE SUEUR
b. 1942
Sculptures and other media
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
"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)
African Explosives & Chemical Industries - Plastics Division - Johannesburg - "Pole Star", 1972 (click on image)
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Other bronzes
"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
"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)
"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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"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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"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
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