Christopher Ronald Mark Lancaster (14 May 1938 – 30 April 2021) was a British-American artist and set designer who worked extensively with the Cunningham Dance Company.

Alastair Macaulay Alastair Macaulay is an English writer and dance critic. He was the chief dance critic for '' The New York Times'' from 2007 until he retired in 2018. He was previously chief dance critic at '' The Times'' and Literary Supplement and chief theater ...

referred to him as a "superlative designer" who "knew how to create drama by colour contrasts."

Early life

Lancaster was born in

Holmfirth, West Yorkshire Holmfirth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, on the A635 road, A635 and A6024 road, A6024 in the Holme Valley, at the confluence of the River Holme and River Ribble, West Yorkshire, Ribble, south of Hud ...

on 14 May 1938. In early childhood, he chose to go by Mark. He attended Holme Valley Grammar School (1949-1952) and

Bootham School Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19, and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

(1952-1955) before returning home to work in the family textile business. He studied textile technology for six years, painting in his own time, before attending King's College (1961-1965) to study Fine Art. Here, he studied under Richard Hamilton. Lancaster taught at the university, now called University of Newcastle upon Tyne, between 1965 and 1966, then at the Bath School of Art until 1968.

Career

Lancaster visited New York City for the first time in 1964, where he worked briefly as an assistant to

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

and appeared in several of Warhol's movies. During this time, he met future collaborators

Jasper Johns Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker whose work is associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and pop art. He is well known for his depictions of the American flag and other US-related top ...

Ray Johnson Raymond Edward "Ray" Johnson (October 16, 1927 – January 13, 1995) was an American artist. Known primarily as a collagist and correspondence artist, he was a seminal figure in the history of Neo-Dada and early Pop art and was described as

Ellsworth Kelly Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 – December 27, 2015) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color Field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, c ...

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein (; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. Hi ...

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (born May 12, 1936) is an American painter, sculptor and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. Stella lives and works in New York City. Biography Frank Stella was born in M ...

James Rosenquist James Rosenquist (November 29, 1933 – March 31, 2017) was an American artist and one of the proponents of the pop art movement. Drawing from his background working in sign painting, Rosenquist's pieces often explored the role of advertising a ...

Larry Rivers Larry Rivers (born Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg) (1923 – 2002) was an American artist, musician, filmmaker, and occasional actor. Considered by many scholars to be the "Godfather" and "Grandfather" of Pop art, he was one of the first artists ...

Frank O'Hara Francis Russell "Frank" O'Hara (March 27, 1926 – July 25, 1966) was an American writer, poet, and art critic. A curator at the Museum of Modern Art, O'Hara became prominent in New York City's art world. O'Hara is regarded as a leading figure i ...

Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American Abstract Expressionism, abstract expressionist Painting, painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of th ...

Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...

and

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...

, among others. He photographed extensively and started a series of paintings related to the imagery of the popular

Howard Johnson's Howard Johnson's, or Howard Johnson by Wyndham, is an American hotel chain and former restaurant chain. Founded by Howard Deering Johnson in 1925 as a restaurant, it was the largest restaurant chain in the U.S. throughout the 1960s and 1970s, ...

restaurants. Upon returning to England, he shared his experiences with colleagues at Newcastle such as

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ''The Independent'', Ferry an ...

Stephen Buckley Stephen Buckley (born 23 April 1959) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). His father, Brian Buckley, and brother, Mark Buckley Mark Buckley (born 25 ...

, Nicholas deVille,

Tim Head Tim Head (born 1946) is a British artist. Biography Born in London, Head studied at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne from 1965 to 1969, where his teachers included Richard Hamilton and Ian Stephenson. His contemporary students included Roxy ...

and

Keith Milow Keith Milow (born 29 December 1945 in London) is a British artist. He grew up in Baldock, Hertfordshire, and lived in New York City (1980–2002) and Amsterdam (2002–2014), now lives in London. He is an abstract sculptor, painter and printmak ...

. His first one-person exhibition was at London's Rowan Gallery in November 1965, followed by shows at the

Betty Parsons Gallery Betty Parsons (born Betty Bierne Pierson, January 31, 1900 – July 23, 1982) was an American artist, art dealer, and collector known for her early promotion of Abstract Expressionism. She is regarded as one of the most influential and dynamic f ...

in New York City in 1972 and 1974. In 1974, his work ''Paintings Cambridge/New York'' was curated by Richard Francis at the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

. He was invited to be the first Artist in Residence at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

from 1968 to 1970, where he befriended

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

Dadie Rylands George Humphrey Wolferstan Rylands (23 October 1902 – 16 January 1999), known as Dadie Rylands, was a British literary scholar and theatre director. Rylands was born at the Down House, Tockington, Gloucestershire, to Thomas Kirkland Ry ...

and

Duncan Grant Duncan James Corrowr Grant (21 January 1885 – 8 May 1978) was a British painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theatre sets and costumes. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group. His father was Bartle Grant, a "poverty-stricken" major i ...

. Lancaster's paintings at this time focused on the ambience of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and the architecture of King's College, and have elements of American modernism and pop imagery. His work was shown at international exhibitions organized by the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

, including the

Paris Biennale The ''Biennale de Paris'' (English: Paris Biennale) is a noted French art festival. History The 'Biennale de Paris' was launched by Raymond Cogniat in 1959 and set up by André Malraux as he was Minister of Culture to present an overview of young ...

and the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

in 1970. He made a series of prints with Kalpra Studios, Editions Alecto, and Simca Studios at this time. Lancaster moved permanently to the United States in 1973, where he became Jasper Johns' assistant and private secretary from 1974 to 1985. In 1975, he also began working as resident designer with the

Merce Cunningham Dance Company Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...

. Over the next ten years, he designed sets, costumes, and lighting for a number of dance works, including ''Sounddance'' (1975), ''Squaregame'' (1976), ''Roadrunners'' (1979), ''Gallopade'' (1981), ''Fielding Sixes'' (1983) and ''Doubles'' (1984). He also designed ''Duets'' (1982) for the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

and ''Fielding Sixes'' for Ballet Rambert and the Royal Ballet of Wallonia. He retired from the Cunningham Dance Company in 1984 but returned in 1988 to design ''Dive Stone Wind'' in Berlin, Avignon and New York, for which he received a 1989

Bessie Award The New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessie Awards, are awarded annually for exceptional achievement by independent dance artists presenting their work in New York City. The broad categories of the awards are: choreography, ...

. He designed for a number of the company's dances for the company until 1994. In 1985, Lancaster returned briefly to England, where he lived in

Sandgate, Kent Sandgate is a village in the Folkestone and Hythe Urban Area in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. It had a population of 4,225 at the 2001 census.Marilyn Diptych The ''Marilyn Diptych'' (1962) is a silkscreen painting by American pop artist Andy Warhol depicting Marilyn Monroe. The monumental work is one of the artist's most noted of the movie star. The painting consists of 50 images. Each image of t ...

''. The collection was premiered at London's Mayor Rowan Gallery in 1988 on the one-year anniversary of Warhol's death. Marco Livingstone referenced ''Post-Warhol Souvenirs'' in an '' Art & Design'' article and in his book ''Pop Art, A Continuing History''. Upon his return to the United States, Lancaster lived in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

and

Jamestown, Rhode Island Jamestown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island in the United States. The population was 5,559 at the 2020 census. Jamestown is situated almost entirely on Conanicut Island, the second largest island in Narragansett Bay. It also includes the u ...

. He became an American citizen in 1999.

Personal life and legacy

For the last 20 years of his life, Lancaster lived in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...

with his husband, artist David Bolger. He died on 30 April 2021 at age 82. A portrait of Lancaster by

Edward Lucie-Smith John Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith (born 27 February 1933), known as Edward Lucie-Smith, is a Jamaican-born English writer, poet, art critic, curator and broadcaster. He has been highly prolific in these fields, writing or editing over a hundred ...

resides at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

. Michael Bracewell detailed Lancaster's Newcastle days and first New York visit in his book ''Re-make/Re-Model'' (2007).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lancaster, Mark 1938 births 2021 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century British printmakers English male painters English printmakers People from Holmfirth Set designers 20th-century English male artists