{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1351564"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1351564/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PM6342/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PM6342/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2026PM6342","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1351564/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1351564","accessionNumber":"IS.74-2016","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"Abstract Townscape","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"An abstract composition of a cityscape.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Lancelot Ribeiro","id":"AUTH339627"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28674"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Watercolour","id":"THES250889"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Watercolour and inks on paper","categories":[],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2026PM6342"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"004","id":"THES406606"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Painting","id":"x30598"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1975","earliest":"1975-01-01","latest":"1975-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Marsha Ribeiro","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"14","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"19","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This playful and teasing townscape is one of a few abstract compositions of city scenes which exist within Ribeiro’s watercolour works. Emerging out of a colourful backdrop, the joyful movement of a city dominates the scene, with the odd edifice, church basilica or tree referencing favourite motifs that Ribeiro would frequently return to. \n\r\nThese abstract watercolour townscapes mark a departure from his other watercolours produced at that time which were predominantly conventional scenes inspired by the English and Northern European landscape. \r\n\r\nThis abstract townscape was reproduced in the Restless Ribeiro catalogue (2013), page 52.\r\nIt was exhibited at the Restless Ribeiro exhibition at Asia House in 2013 and the V&A’s Evening event Ribeiro – A Celebration of Life, Love and Passion on 17th March 2017, as part of the 2016/17 Heritage Lottery Funded Retracing Ribeiro project.\r\n","historicalContext":"Lancelot Ribeiro (1933-2010) was born in Bombay to a Roman Catholic family from Goa. He came to London in 1950 and trained at St Martins School of Art before returning to Bombay. He began painting professionally in 1958 and had his first solo exhibition in Bombay in 1961 which launched his career. In 1962 he moved back to London permanently.\n\r\nHis early work ranged from expressionistic visions of homeland to portraits drawn from the Christian tradition and depictions of ‘Heads’ embodying tyranny and power. His few surrealist drawings were an important aspect of his practice and emerged at a time he was producing wide-ranging pieces across different media. His watercolours were an understudied part of his oeuvre and evolved from naturalistic depictions of landscape in the early 1970s to compositional studies in abstraction a decade later. He then moved into large-scale expressionistic paintings of figures with political or religious undertones, much like his earlier work.\n\r\nRibeiro co-founded the Indian Painters Collective (IPC) in 1963, which spearheaded a movement advocating for the recognition of artists from the Subcontinent within Britain’s art establishment. The IPC was the first body of its kind outside India and the first to stage an exhibition of Indian artists in Britain, eventually becoming the Indian Artists UK (IAUK). \n\r\nRibeiro’s pioneering experimentation with polyvinyl acetate (PVA) earned him the reputation of the ‘godfather of generations of artists using acrylics’ (The Times, 2011). His artistic practice remained innately experimental in his use of materials, subject, style and form and reflected his lifelong philosophy, ‘I could go on endlessly to produce painting after painting – interesting perhaps – but somewhat meaningless and self-plagiarising.’ \r\n","briefDescription":"Painting, untitled (Abstract Townscape), by Lancelot Ribeiro, watercolour and inks on paper, London, 1975","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.74-2016"],"accessionNumberNum":"74","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":2016,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-16","recordCreationDate":"2016-05-05","availableToBook":true}}