Barbican Mural appeal

'THE TALKING WALL'
A digital restoration proposal for
The Barbican Mural by Robert O. Lenkiewicz

Few paintings by Robert Lenkiewicz have caught the public’s attention like the 3,000 sq ft The Barbican Mural, which Lenkiewicz completed in 1972. The combination of serious content – its title is ‘The Influence of Jewish Thought on Elizabethan Culture 1580-1620’ – and the use of recognisable local models was a characteristic of Lenkiewicz’s public murals.

Various ideas have been put forward over the years to preserve, restore or repaint the mural. Lenkiewicz himself long ago abandoned it to time and the elements, intending to create an entirely new mural on the theme of 'The Dance of Death' (Totentanz). Physical restoration of the original work appears impossible given the extremely fragile state of the painted residue and the fact that the underlying surface remains just as corrosive.   

However, an interesting proposal has been received from Robert Brocklehurst (click here for details), lecturer in Performance and Multimedia at Loughborough University for a project to capture extremely high resolution images of the mural in its current state.

(Cont.)

The purpose in photographing The Barbican Mural in its current state would be twofold: first, this would create an archival reference before the surface disappears entirely and second, the images could form the basis for a replica or recreation.

However, any attempt at a digital replica of the mural would depend on the digital restorer’s ability to fill in the information (Robert’s usual trinity of tone, shape and colour!) which time and the elements have erased. The Lenkiewicz Foundation is therefore appealing to anyone who has good quality photographs or transparencies of the mural, either in whole or in part, to contact TLF (see below).

An appeal

Do you have images of the The Barbican Mural in its heyday?

A number of proposals have been made with regard to restoring, repainting or replicating The Barbican Mural, but all require as a starting point an accurate record of what used to be there.

TLF is therefore appealing for anyone with good quality photographs or transparencies of the mural to contact them at 01752 221450 or email TLF.