Robert Oscar Lenkiewicz (31 December 1941 -- August 5, 2002) was one of the South West England's most celebrated artists of modern times. Perennially unfashionable in high art circles, his work was nevertheless popular with the public. He painted on a large scale, usually in themed Projects investigating hidden communities or difficult social issues. Robert, aged 60, died of a heart attack in 2002. Despite painting 10,000 works rated of 'national importance' by the British Museum he had only £12 cash in his possession (having never opened a bank account), and owed £2 million to various creditors. Lenkiewicz never paid tax or kept any records of sales of his works. In 2009 when his estate was finally valued after lawyers spent 7 years going through personal effects he was found to have left £6.5 million. As well as paintings the estate included a £1 million book collection.
The father of 11 children, Lenkiewicz was the stepfather of Bianca Eliot, now the widow of Jago Eliot, Lord Eliot. His pupils include Piran Bishop, Yana Travail, Dan Wheatley and Lisa Stokes. His daughter Alice Lenkiewicz is a painter, poet and editor of the literary magazine, Neon Highway. His stepdaughter, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, is an accomplished playwright who has had her work performed at the Royal National Theatre.
Brilliant video.
Alice7445 2 months ago
er genius.
SynchroEurope 2 months ago
Jago took me to meet Robert at his studio in 1989. Mesmerising experience.
KittyVortex 3 months ago
I miss Ruby's interviews. She's the tops.
SquishedButterfly 7 months ago
Thank you for posting this - I have been wondering why I couldn't find it on YouTube until now... Great to hear and see Robert trying to convince Ruby of his theories.
danieltills 7 months ago