st ives post-war and
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and st ives post-war
Spring 2016 Paisnel Gallery 9 Bury Street, St James's, London sw1y 6ab telephone: 020 7930 9293 email: info@paisnelgallery.co.uk website: www.paisnelgallery.co.uk
This annual exhibition, the eighth at Bury Street, aims to present an overview of a wide-ranging and diverse body of work. Roger Hilton, Alexander Mackenzie, Terry Frost and John Copnall admirably reflect the process of parallel development with Europe and America, displaying greater emphasis on the physical properties of paint. Artists who are quintessentially British and still invested with a charming sense of insularity, are Billie Waters, Bryan Pearce and Alan Lowndes. Stalwarts from the Paisnel Gallery inventory are also well represented. John Tunnard for his continuing preoccupation with Surrealism and, more recently, celestial overtones, Frank Avray Wilson with a very early example of his Taschiste interpretation, and Martin Bradley with his mystical and poetic imagery. Minimal and pure paintings by Paul Feiler, John Plumb and Arthur Jackson present contrast to the broad and gestural brushwork of Ivon Hitchens and William Crozier, whilst Graham Sutherland’s profound composition provides a challenging alternative. Sculptural form is expressed in bronzes and carvings principally by the St Ives- orientated artists Robert Adams, John Milne and Denis Mitchell, with their interpretations of geological or cultural inspirations. Bernard Meadows brings an analysis of the human condition, whilst Bertram Eaton and Brian Willsher simply celebrate the joy of working with natural materials to produce objects of beauty. Stephen Paisnel
Index of Artists and Catalogue Numbers Adams, Robert
26
Bradley, Martin
16
Chadwick, Lynn
27
Copnall, John
21
Crozier, William
23
Eaton, Bertram
25
Feiler, Paul
7
Frost, Terry
4
Guthrie, Kathleen
15, 20
Hilton, Roger
1
Hitchens, Ivon
13
Jackson, Arthur
24
Lowndes, Alan
22
Mackenzie, Alexander
3
Meadows, Bernard
28, 29
Milne, John
9, 10
Mitchell, Denis
12
Mount, Paul
11
Pearce, Bryan
8
Plumb, John
18, 19
Sutherland,Graham
14
Tunnard, John
6
Waters, Billie
2, 5
Willsher, Brian
30
Wilson, Frank Avray
17
st ives
cat 1
Roger Hilton (1911–1975) Composition 1953 oil on board 9 x 21 ins (22 x 53.5 cms) signed and dated 1953
Provenance Private Collections to 2014
exhibited Huddersfield, Symon Quinn Gallery, Roger Hilton, September 1955
Hilton was aware of Taschiste principles before they were widely known in Britain. He used loosely painted black structures in the same manner as William Gear, adding earthy hues and colour accents which, intentionally or otherwise, gave the effect of landscape, particularly when using an overtly horizontal format.
cat 2
Billie Waters (1895–1965) Coverack Harbour oil on board 16 x 20 ins (41 x 51 cms) signed titled verso painted circa 1957
Studies with Ernest Procter introduced Waters to a distinctly decorative style echoing Art Deco. She produced designs for Clarice Cliff and, alongside Ben Nicholson and Graham Sutherland, submitted work to the Exhibition of British Art in Industry held at the Royal Academy in 1935. Her time in post-war Cornwall revealed an entirely different approach to her environment, with keen observation and quasi-naive inclination, as seen in Coverack Harbour.
Cat 3
Alexander Mackenzie (1923–2002) Landscape: Winter January 1956 oil on board 5 x 15 ins (13 x 38 cms) signed, dated Jan 1956 and titled verso
Provenance Private Collection 2007–2016
During the 1950s, Mackenzie made rhythmical compositions of lines, bars and circular forms with strong emphasis on surface texture. Many of his earlier works speak of the sensation of landscape; both moving through it and over it. Rich in palette and displaying an energy that was lacking in many of his fellow artists’ works, Winter Landscape is arguably one of Mackenzie's finest paintings.
Cat 4
Terry Frost (1915–2003) Umber and Grey oil on canvas 72 x 52 ins (183 x 132 cms) signed, dated Dec 1960 and titled verso
Provenance Purchased directly from the artist 1991 Private Collection, London, 1991–2005 Private Collection, Cornwall, 2006–2016
exhibited Tate St Ives in collaboration with Leeds City Art Gallery and Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange Terry Frost Leeds, Leeds City Art Gallery, 9 June – 30 August 2015 Penzance, Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange, 10 October 2015 – 9 January 2016
literature Chris Stevens, Terry Frost, Tate Publishing, London 2000, illustrated page 51
By 1960, the year of Frost's first exhibition in New York, he had developed a complex language of signs and symbols. Chevrons, discs, arrowheads and horizontal shafts were often themed to convey whole moods.
Cat 5
Billie Waters (1895–1965) Cornish Landscape oil on gesso-prepared board 10½ x 22½ ins (27 x 57 cms) signed and titled verso painted circa 1962
Provenance Private Collection to 2015
Far removed from the earlier representational painting of Coverack Harbour (cat 2), Cornish Landscape explores weathered colours and textures where surfaces are scratched and dragged over gesso-prepared board. This painting speaks of a personal affection for her Cornish environment and exploration of new techniques.
Cat 6
John Tunnard (1900–1971) Beginning watercolour, ink and gouache 22 x 15 ins (56 x 38 cms) signed and dated 1965 titled verso Tunnard ref S4
Provenance McRoberts & Tunnard Gallery, 1965 Private Collection 2011–2015
exhibited London, Hartnoll & Eyre, John Tunnard, 6 – 30 April 1971, cat no 22 London, Redfern Gallery, John Tunnard 1900–1971, Paintings & Gouaches, 8 March – 2 April 1977, cat no 43 London, Agnew's Gallery, John Tunnard, Dream Landscapes, 7 September – 7 October 2011, cat no 19
literature Alan Peat and Brian Whitton, John Tunnard: His Life and Work, page 199, cat no 840
Tunnard once again combines earthbound symbols with an ethereal sense of space and infinity. His interest in cosmic imagery resulted in a number of other works in 1960 pursuing this theme, including Launching Pad and Mock Moons.
Cat 7
Paul Feiler (1918–2013) Lunatis II oil and pencil on board 16 x 22 ins (41 x 56 cms) signed, dated 1968 and titled verso
exhibited London, The New Patrons – 20th Century Art from Corporate Collections in association with the National Art Collections Fund, 3 – 24 January 1992, cat no 131 (Save & Prosper Group Ltd)
Feiler’s penultimate artistic phase was the Orbis and Lunatis series from the late 1960s, reflecting his interest in the Apollo space missions. Lunatis II is significantly calmer than previous compositions, the artist almost revelling in silk-like surfaces. The supporting board has been curved to emphasise the suggestion of elusive moons and earthly horizons.
Cat 8
Bryan Pearce (1929–2007) Zennor oil on board 28 x 22 ins (71 x 56 cms) signed dated 1969 and titled verso
Provenance Private Collection 2008–2016
exhibited London, New Art Centre, 1971 Bryan Pearce, cat no 8 Oxford, The Museum of Modern Art, 1975 Bryan Pearce, cat no 31 Bristol, Royal West of England Academy, Retrospective Exhibition, 1995, cat no 86
literature Janet Axten, The Artist and his Work, Bryan Pearce, published by Sansom & Company, 2000, introduction by Professor Charles Thomas, page 137, cat no 223
Zennor was painted in 1969 when Pearce was fully immersed in, and recognised by, the artistic community surrounding the Newlyn Society of Artists and the Penwith Gallery, as well as critics and collectors further afield. One of the few truly indigenous painters of Cornwall, Pearce focused on the surrounding landscapes and harbours near his home in St Ives. Working entirely without influence (he rarely looked at other artists work), he celebrated his own perceived world with meticulous outline and endearing colour.
Cat 9
John Milne (1931–1978) Project cold cast aluminium on slate Height: 21 ½ ins (54.5 cms) signed with initials and dated 1969 on base number 7 from an edition of 9
literature Lynette Forsdyke-Crofts, Reflections of a Sculptor, Innocom Ltd, 1998, artist’s ref JM89, page 65 Peter Davies, The Sculpture of John Milne, Belgrave Gallery, 2000, artist’s ref JM89, page 77
In an edition of nine, the form of Project appears both organic and architectural. Its tangled, petal-like base rises into a perfectly vertical stem, as reminiscent of a towering building as it is plant-like. In contrast to the bronze version, the work appears less weighty and the materiality instead suggests a lighter, free-flowing form.
Cat 10
John Milne (1931–1978) Persepolis bronze on slate Height: 7 ½ ins (19 cms) signed with initials and dated 1971 on base number 3 from an edition of 9
Provenance Private Collection 2006– 2016
literature J P Hodin, John Milne: Sculptor, published by Latimer New Dimensions 1977, cat no 23 Peter Davies, The Sculpture of John Milne, published by Belgrave Gallery, June 2000, artist’s ref JM105, page 84
Milne travelled widely and gathered many ideas for sculpture from the places he visited, notably Turkey, Persia and Morocco. This wider vision countered the insularity of his Cornish-based oeuvre. Persepolis, inspired by the 6th century Persian city, is typically architectural, yet, ironically, the monumentality is more reminiscent of West Country rock formations, such as Bedruthan Steps.
Cat 11
Paul Mount (1922–2009) Geometric Forms stainless steel on marble base 4 ½ x 7 ins (11.5 x 18 cms) signed on base conceived circa 1980
Provenance Private Collection 2012–2016
Between 1978 and 1986 Mount produced a number of sculptures in stainless steel which broke tradition with previously organic and curvilinear forms. Emphasising his primarily constructive approach, Geometric Forms, angular and industrial, is perhaps a review of the architectural installations he produced in Lagos, Nigeria almost twenty years earlier. The individual elements are loosely arranged inviting the viewer to alter the interaction dependent on personal preference.
cat 12
Denis Mitchell (1912–1993) Boleigh delabole slate 13 x 13 ins (33 x 33 cms) signed with initials, dated 1990 and titled on base unique
Provenance Private Collection circa 1990–2014
Boleigh is based on the location of an important group of standing stones and continues Mitchell's customary use of ancient Cornish sites as both inspiration and titles for his work. His implicit understanding of line and form, and the interplay between surface and light, imbues his bronze casts and slate carvings with a unique vitality. Boleigh, alongside Gulval and Nanjivy, was the last series of slate sculptures Mitchell produced.
post-war
cat 13
Ivon Hitchens (1893–1979) Landscape oil on canvas 16 x 30 ins (41 x 76 cms) signed painted circa 1954
Provenance The Artist's Estate with studio stamp verso
Ivon Hitchens refined and advanced his techniques throughout the 1950s, most notably in the landscapes of this era. In general, his compositions, while remaining parallel to nature, began to assert their autonomy more strongly through a progressive simplification of detail and greater boldness in the use of colour and gesture.
Cat 14
Graham Sutherland (1903–1980) Thorn Head gouache 26 x 18 ins (66 x 46 cms) signed with artist's initials and dated 1953
Provenance Gimpel Fils, 1962 Private Collection 1962–2014
During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Thorn Head was a subject that Sutherland chose to consistently rework. This is a later and more refined example of his postwar exploration of timeless motifs; the head fused with thorns is both a direct reference to the Crucifixion and a visual manifestation of the tragedy of World War II. The obscure skeletal structure both exposes and conceals, creating interplay between symbolism and figurative elements.
Cat 15
Kathleen Guthrie (1905–1981) Landscape III oil on canvas laid on board 28 x 36 ins (71 x 91.5 cms) signed titled label verso painted circa 1958
Provenance The Artist's Estate Liss Fine Art
Although primarily an abstract painter following her marriage to the pioneering modernist, John Cecil Stephenson, Guthrie often returned to her figurative background throughout the 1950s. The natural curve of a landscape is enhanced with blocks of colour in square brush technique, whilst organic forms are superimposed in singular and exaggerated isolation.
Cat 16
Martin Bradley (born 1931) Conte Catalan oil on canvas 38 x 64 ins (97 x 162.5 cms) signed and dated 1961 titled verso
Provenance Private Collection, London, 2004–2006 Private Collection, Hampshire, 2006–2016
Conte is the Catalan for 'short story', an appropriate title given that Bradley spent some time in Cataluña en route to Mallorca, where this canvas was painted. The composition is unusual in that it has no references to oriental calligraphy. Instead, it speaks of his interest in Spanish folklore and its myriad cultural associations. In 1961 Bradley's work was included in the historic exhibition 'Arte e Contemplazione' in the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, alongside other cutting-edge artists, Fontana, Dubuffet and Rothko.
Cat 17
Frank Avray Wilson (1914–2009) Composition 1954 oil on canvas 24 x 72 ins (61 x 183 cms) dated 1954 on stretcher
Provenance Belgrave Gallery Private Collection 2008–2015
After studying biology which claimed that, 'life was nothing more than a molecular mechanism', Frank Avray Wilson was interested in exploring the vital and transcendental qualities of life that his degree at Cambridge University had failed to explain. This vitality is symbolised by the powerful, expressive and spontaneous quality of this work, with bold use of oranges and greens layered on to vibrant yellow.
Cat 18
John Plumb (1927–2008) Bamboo PVA and vinyl tape on board 48 x 48 ins (122 x 122 cms) signed and titled verso painted in 1961
Provenance Purchased directly from the artist in 2006
exhibited Hull, Ferens Art Gallery, John Plumb, 16 February – 9 March 1965, cat no 7
In 1961, John Plumb exhibited alongside Richard Hamilton, Bernard Cohen, William Turnbull and Eduardo Paolozzi at Theo Crosby’s temporary building for the opening of the International Union of Architects Congress (IUAC); the same year he exhibited at the influential Situations. The two shows had a considerable impact on British art and launched the careers of some of Britain’s most important artists. For Plumb, it was a period of innovation and, more importantly, recognition.
Cat 19
John Plumb (1927–2008) Red over Zircon, Diptych PVA and acrylic on canvas laid to board 32 x 16 ins (81 x 41 cms) signed, dated May 1966 and titled verso
Provenance Tadema Gallery Private Collection 2008–2015
exhibited London, Axiom Gallery, John Plumb Paintings, 10 August – 3 September 1966, cat no 11
John Plumb was at the height of his 'colourfield' production in the mid-1960s showing works, such as Red over Zircon, Bermuda and Jaffa, at the Axiom Gallery in London and Galerie Le Zodiaque in Brussels. Solid contrasting colours are applied with slab-like uniformity, heightened with linear definition. This painting is rare in having 'domestic' dimensions, the majority of his work being significantly larger.
Cat 20
Kathleen Guthrie (1905–1981) Triangles oil on canvas 48 x 36 ins (122 x 91.5 cms) titled label verso painted circa 1965
Provenance The Artist's Estate Liss Fine Art
Triangles was painted a year before Guthrie's important solo exhibition at Drian Galleries in 1966. The work explores the way in which space and surface are perceived, emphasised by the contrast between soft textured brushwork and highly structured linear composition.
Cat 21
John Copnall (1928–2007) Composition 1967 mixed media and collage on board 23½ x 35½ ins (59.5 x 90 cms) signed and dated 1967 verso
Provenance Private Collection to 2014
In this painting, Copnall brings his own language to the prevailing European trends of Art Informel and Pintura Matérica, as practiced by Antoni Tapies. Non-artistic materials are incorporated into the composition, in this case a tin lid, whilst the painting is built up using layers of plaster, canvas and strips of wood.
Cat 22
Alan Lowndes (1921–1978) The Portwood Bridge oil on canvas 30 x 20 ins (76 x 51 cms) signed and dated 1968 titled and inscribed Halsetown, Nov 1968 verso
Provenance Crane Kalman Gallery, 1968 Private Collection, London to 2012 Private Collection, Cambridge, 2012–2016
exhibited London, Rutland Gallery in association with Crane Kalman, Alan Lowndes A Retrospective, 28 November – 30 December 1972 London, Crane Kalman, Alan Lowndes, Retrospective and Book Launch, 17 June – 13 August, 2010 London, Portland Gallery, McIntyre, Lowndes, Brook, 7 – 29 July 2011, cat no 25
Lowndes brings a gritty and nostalgic aspect to this view in his home town of Stockport. The Portwood Bridge, now listed, spans the confluence of the rivers Mersey and Goyt and is the only remaining structure in an urban landscape that was destined to change with the onset of 'de-industrialisation'. Though living in St Ives from 1959, Lowndes travelled back to Stockport at least once a year for the next decade.
Cat 23
William Crozier (1930–2011) The Descent oil on canvas 36 x 36 ins (91.5 x 91.5 cms) signed also signed and titled verso
Provenance Private Collection 2008–2015
With studies at the Glasgow School of Art and a close association with Robert Colquhoun, John Minton and William Scott in London, Crozier was exposed to a wide range of influences and inspiration. The certainty and confidence of his compositions, coupled with robust colour, produced abstracted landscapes of immediately recognisable originality and vitality.
Cat 24
Arthur Jackson (1911–2003) Painting 3/92 oil on board 13 x 15 ins (33 x 38 cms) signed and dated 1992 verso also numbered 3/92 verso
Provenance The artist and then by descent Christies, London, November 2007 (Property from the collection of the late Arthur Jackson) Private Collection, Wiltshire, 2008–2016
Arthur Jackson was a cousin of Barbara Hepworth and through her met Ben Nicholson, who took him on as a pupil and had a significant influence on his abstract development. After a brief period of early success in the 1930s, (he was elected a member of the Seven and Five Society), Jackson moved away from an artist's career in favour of becoming an architect. It was not until his retirement in 1987 that he resumed painting. For an artist in his early eighties, Jackson displays remarkable exuberance and technical skills in this rectangular illusion of space and colour.
Cat 25
Bertram Eaton (1912–1978) Sun & City beech and mahogany 20¼ x 24¾ ins (51.5 x 63 cms) studio stamp titled on label 1950
Provenance The Artist's Estate Private Collection circa 2011–2015
exhibited London, Galerie Apollinaire, Constructional Murals & Sculpture by Bertram Eaton, April – May 1950, cat no 7
By 1950, Eaton's sculpture was entirely abstract. His exhibition at Galerie Apollinaire consisted of a range of murals on the theme of Wall Construction. All those assemblies were contained within rectangular structures, usually incorporating a combination of yew, lime, beech and mahogany. The Festival of Britain in 1951 provided a huge source of inspiration for Eaton and his broadened artistic vocabulary led to a number of group exhibitions with Reg Butler, Ivon Hitchens and John Piper at London galleries, including Roland, Browse & Delbanco and the Hanover Gallery.
Cat 26
Robert Adams (1917–1984) Incised Bronze Form polished bronze Height: 4 ¼ ins (11 cms) stamped with signature and dated 1978 conceived in an edition of 6 Opus 379
Provenance Private Collection circa 2008–2015
exhibited London, Gimpel Fils, Robert Adams, 30 October – 4 November 1979, cat no 11 London, Gimpel Fils, Robert Adams late bronzes, 15 September – 15 October 1988, cat no 16
literature Alastair Grieve, The Sculpture of Robert Adams, Lund Humphries, 1992, cat no 648, illustrated page 137
Incised Bronze Form was the smallest work that Adams exhibited in the Gimpel Fils solo exhibition. Soft domes are incised with horizontal and vertical slots akin to several other works of the period, which may well have been inspired by neolithic stones from Penwith.
Cat 27
Lynn Chadwick (1914–2003) Pyramids IV bronze Height: 8½ ins (21.5 cms) signed, dated 1965 and titled number 1 from an edition of 6 cat ref 490
Provenance Private Collection 2006–2016
exhibited London, Marlborough New London Gallery, Chadwick, October – November 1966, cat no 41 (another cast)
literature Dennis Farr and Eva Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick Sculptor, cat ref 490, page 228, Illustrated page 229
The pyramid was a constant in the theme and design of Chadwick’s sculptures with early manifestations representing human figures and truncated pyramids seen as elements of other compositions. By 1965 the shape was presented directly, with varying degrees of geometric precision, as part of a series of no less than twenty-six works bearing the form as the title. By the 1970s Chadwick’s best known and iconic sculptures used the pyramid to represent the female head.
Cat 28
Bernard Meadows (1915–2005) Armed Bust II: Brutus bronze Height: 14 ins (35.5 cms) signed with monogram conceived in 1961, cast in an edition of 6
Provenance Paul Rosenberg Gallery, New York to 2005 Sothebys, London, July 2005 Private Collection 2005–2016
literature Alan Bowness, Bernard Meadows: Sculpture and Drawing, The Henry Moore Foundation in assocation with Lund Humphries, London 1995, pages 15 and 16, Ref BM73, illustrated plate 58, page 76
Meadows, more than his contemporaries Armitage and Chadwick, produced sculptures that focused on anxiety and distress. By the 1960s metaphorical startled and frightened birds had been replaced by direct figurative references as in Armed Bust II. The sharp ‘pointing’ fingers of Brutus are only marginally softened by the inclusion of a polished ‘eye’, used for the first time in this composition. The figure radiates power and formidable presence and was the forerunner to a series of masculine stereotypes including Tycoon and Personnage très important.
Cat 29
Bernard Meadows (1915–2005) Large Crab Relief polished bronze 14 x 25 ins (35.5 x 63.5 cms) conceived in 1978 in an edition of 6
exhibited Chappel Galleries Fine Art, Bernard Meadows, Drawings and Sculpture 31 March – 21 April 2001, cat no 55 (another cast)
literature Bowness A, 1995, Bernard Meadows Sculpture and Drawings, The Henry Moore Foundation in association with Lund Humphries, London, Illustrated page 109, plate 94, BM ref 124, page 145
Trained by Moore, it is no surprise that there is a definite emotional content to Meadow’s work, although he was interested in using animals as vehicles for human expression, rather than the human figure. The choice of the crab is significant, as Meadows spent a lot of time observing them in the Cocos Islands during World War II. The crab is one of the few animals to be exoskeletal, creating a blurring of the boundaries between interior and exterior forms.
Cat 30
Brian Willsher (1930–2010) Flame mahogany Height: 38 ins (96.5cms) signed and dated 1993 on base titled on label
Provenance Belgrave Gallery 2006 Private Collection 2006–2015
Brian Willsher has long been an ‘outsider’ to the art establishment, both in the recent terminology to describe untrained artists and in the literal sense of the word: He effectively withdrew from commercial galleries after his work was denounced by HM Customs and Excise as ‘non-sculpture’, despite numerous solo exhibitions and commissions. He may have used industrial tools to craft geometric and organic abstraction but they were no less essential than a hammer and chisel for stone or a foundry for bronze. After decades of neglect, Willsher’s intricate and elegant sculptures are once again gaining recognition.
st ives
and
post-war
Published in 2016 by Paisnel Gallery
isbn 978-0-9931746-3-6 Paisnel Gallery 9 Bury Street St James’s London sw1y 6ab Telephone: 020 7930 9293 Email: info@paisnelgallery.co.uk www.paisnelgallery.co.uk Š Paisnel Gallery All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without first seeking the written permission of the copyright holders and of the publisher. Photography: Paul Tucker Photography Design: Alan Ward @ www.axisgraphicdesign.co.uk Print: Albe De Coker, Antwerp
Front endpaper: Bertram Eaton, Sun & City cat 25 and Brian Willsher, Flame cat 30 Page 4: Terry Frost, Umber and Grey cat 4 and Denis Mitchell, Boleigh cat 12 Back endpaper: Graham Sutherland, Thorn Head cat 14 and Bernard Meadows, Armed Bust II: Brutus cat 28 Cover: Billie Waters, Cornish Landscape cat 5
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