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During the Second World War, this small fishing village at the western edge of Britain found itself as a viable alternative to London as the centre of avant-garde abstract art. The presence of major international artists Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth & Naum Gabo inspired a new generation of painters: local boys such as Peter Lanyon and John Wells, and recent arrivals from the metropolis such as Patrick Heron, Terry Frost, Roger Hilton and Bryan Wynter. This younger generation, however, soon found their ideas ranging beyond Constructivism, towards a gestural expressionistic abstraction, which inevitably had them looking still further west, across the sea to New York.
The idea of ‘St Ives’ has become shorthand for a form of abstraction inspired by the landscape – especially the movement of the sea and the dynamic interaction of earth and water at the coastline. In addition to this one must take into account the significant level of investigation that took place into pure abstraction by many St Ives artists.
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Ben Nicholson (1894-1982)
St Ives 1945
oil, gouache & pencil on board
signed, dated & inscribed verso
9 x 15 ½ in / 23 x 38 cm
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Patrick Heron (1920-1999)
Portrait of M.D 1951
oil on canvas
signed & dated top, titled verso
36 x 27 ¾ in / 90.2 x 70.5 cm
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Terry Frost (1915-2003)
Walk Along the Quay 1950
oil on canvas
signed, titled & dated to stretcher verso
59 ½ x 22 in / 152 x 56 cm
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Dame Barbara Hepworth (1903 - 1975)
Drawing for Sculpture 1942
gouache & pencil on paper
10 ½ x 13 in/ 26.6 x 33 cm
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John Wells (1907-2000)
Structure in Oval 1947
oil on canvas
signed, dated, numbered 86/7 & inscribed verso
18 x 14 in / 46 x 35.5 cm
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Paul Feiler b.1918
Porthcadjack II 1960
oil on board
38 x 48 in/ 96 x 122 cm
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Arthur Jackson (1911 – 2003)
Abstract Composition 1936
oil on canvas, laid on panel
signed & dated verso
20 x 24 in/ 51 x 61 cm
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Christopher Wood (1901-1930)
St Ives 1928
oil on canvas
20 x 24 in / 50.8 x 61 cm
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Alfred Wallis (1855-1942)
The Dock Gates circa 1930
oil on card
signed lower right
10 x 13 in/ 25.4 x 33 cm
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Bryan Wynter (1915 - 1975)
Gust 1959
oil on canvas
signed, titled & dated verso
56 x 44 in
/ 142.5 x 112 cm
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Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912-2004)
Glacier (Blue Cave) 1950
oil on canvas
signed & dated lower left
18 x 24 in / 45.7 x 61 cm
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Peter Lanyon (1918 – 1964)
Detail of Porthmeor 1962 - 63
oil on canvas
42 x 380 in/ 107 x 965 cm
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