British poet, painter and sculptor who, after finishing his studies at Queen's College, Cambridge (1922), moved to France where he worked as a painter. Through Max Ernst, he moved towards the Paris Surrealist group which was useful to him later in the creation of a similar group in England. In 1936 he organised, in the New Burlington Galleries in London, the first International Surrealist Exhibition. He was also an art collector and, in 1938, bought Paul Eluard's collection of Surrealism. In this period, and during the 40s, Penrose concentrated equally on collage, paintings with poetic inscriptions and sculpture with incorporated objects. After the Second World War, in addition to carrying out an important role in the organisation of exhibitions, he was one of the founder members and major financial patrons of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.
