From English Island, St Martins
Pencil on paper, 1951
25.5 x 35.6cm
BGT1386
‘Earth, Ice, Rock and Sea – the art of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham’
2 – 23 Feb 2019
108 Fine Art, Harrogate
An Exhibition of paintings and drawings celebrating the artists artistic links with Yorkshire.
From December 2018 to July 2019 The Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust has arranged a series of exhibitions and events in Yorkshire to mark a highly influential period in Barns-Graham’s life when she taught, worked and exhibited in the region.
Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield 8 Dec 2018 – 16 March 2019
‘Wilhelmina Barns-Graham: Sea, Rock, Earth and Ice’
Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds 2 April – 20 July 2019 50/50: Fifty Women Artists 1900 – 1950’
In addition, the WBG Trust is in discussion with Leeds Art Gallery and Stanley Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds regarding the gifting of Barns-Graham paintings to their collections. Two paintings have recently been accepted by The Hepworth Wakefield Gallery as part of a gifting programme that was initiated in 2012 as part of the artist’s centenary events.
2nd February – 23rd February 2019
Born in St. Andrews Wilhelmina Barns Graham attended Edinburgh College of Art, 1931 – 37. In 1940 she moved to St. Ives where she joined the Newlyn School and The St. Ives Society, becoming a founder member of the Penwith Society in 1949. During this period she became friends with Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, and Naum Gabo, becoming one of the foremost painters working in St Ives alongside Patrick Heron, Terry Frost and Roger Hilton. Between 1956 – 57 she taught at Leeds College of Art. From 1960 she divided her time between her homes in St. Ives and St. Andrews, affirming herself as much a Scottish as Cornish artist. She was completely dedicated to her art, with a drive and energy that sustained her for over sixty years.
She exhibited regularly with galleries throughout the UK, from the Downing Gallery in St Ives to the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, Orkney. The first major retrospective exhibition of her work was the 1989-90 touring exhibition W. Barns-Graham Retrospective 1940-1989 from City Art Centre, Edinburgh travelling to Newlyn Art Gallery, Penzance. Her work is to be found in all major public collections in the UK including the Tate Gallery, Arts Council and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
