Drawn to Colour Prints & Drawings by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham 1912-2004 We are delighted to be sponsoring the Wilhelmina Barns- Graham exhibition at The Jointure Studios. The exhibition is possible in large part because of the work undertaken by the Barns-Graham Charitable Trust to which Wilhelmina Barns-Graham bequeathed her entire estate on her death in January 2004. Through their good work, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham’s legacy endures, to be enjoyed by this and many future generations. In a world that sometimes appears to increasingly encompassing a culture of everything being disposable, except perhaps one’s blog ramblings destined to circulate the internet ether for eternity, my firm exists to provide security and legacy for individuals throughout the South East. During the last 119 years we have looked after families through many generations, whether it be dealing with inheritances and tax, family difficulties or the purchase and disposal of assets, the constant theme has been putting clients first and providing timely and effective legal advice with excellent client service. We very much hope you enjoy the show and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham’s legacy of her inspirational work. Please talk to me or one my colleagues if you would like to know more about how we can help you secure your family legacy.

David Edwards Managing Partner Burt Brill & Cardens solicitors Brighton, East Grinstead & Worthing 01273 604123 www.bbc-law.co.uk Drawn to Colour Prints & Drawings by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham 1912-2004

The Jointure Studios, Ditchling 3rd-20th October 2012 Open Wednesday-Saturday 11am-5pm or by appointment.

Shirley Crowther Art at The Jointure Studios, 11 South Street, Ditchling, Sussex BN6 8UQ 01273 841244 [email protected] www.shirleycrowtherart.com Portrait of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham 2000, sitting in front of her 1999 screen print Another Time Photograph: Simon Norfolk Wilhelmina Barns-Graham CBE HRSA HRSW Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, known as Willie, was born in St Andrews, Fife, on 8 June 1912. Determining while at school that she wanted to be an artist she set her sights on Edinburgh College of Art where she enrolled in 1931 and graduated with her diploma in 1937.

At the suggestion of the College’s principal Hubert Wellington, she moved to St Ives in 1940. Early on she met Borlase Smart, Alfred Wallis and Bernard Leach, as well as , and Naum Gabo who were living locally at Carbis Bay. She became a member of the Newlyn Society of Artists and St Ives Society of Artists but was to leave the latter in 1949 when she became one of the founding members of the breakaway Penwith Society of Artists. She was an early exhibitor of the significant Crypt Group. Her peers in St Ives include atrickP Heron, Terry Frost, Roger Hilton and John Wells, among others.

Barns-Graham’s history is bound up with St Ives where she lived throughout her life, and it is the place where she experienced her first great successes as an artist. Following her travels to the Grindelwald Glacier, Switzerland in 1949 she embarked on a series of paintings and drawings which caught the attention of some of the most significant critics and curators of the day. In 1951 she won the Painting Prize in the Penwith Society of Arts in Festival of Britain Exhibition and went on to have her first London solo exhibition at the edfernR Gallery in 1952. She was included in many of the important exhibitions on pioneering British abstract art that took place in the 1950s.

In 1960 Barns-Graham inherited a family home near St Andrews which initiated a new phase in her life. From this moment she divided her time between the two coastal communities, simultaneously establishing herself as much as a Scottish artist as a St Ives one. Balmungo House was to become the heart of her professional life, as it continues to be as the centre for the charitable trust which she established in 1987.

Barns-Graham exhibited consistently throughout her career, in private and public galleries. Though not short of exposure throughout the 1960s and 1970s, her next greatest successes did not come until the 1990s. Important exhibitions of her work at the in 1999/2000 and 2005 and the publication of the first monograph on her life and work, Lynne Green’s ‘W. Barns-Graham: a studio life’, 2001 (2nd edition 2011), did much to change critical and public perceptions of her achievements and confirmed her as one of the key contributors of the , and as a significant British modernist. She was made a CBE in 2001, and received four honorary doctorates (St Andrews 1992, Plymouth 2000, Exeter 2001 and Heriot Watt Universities 2003). Her work is found in all major public collections within the UK. She died in St Andrews on 26 January 2004. 6 Lines 2001 Etching on paper 37.7 x 57.6cm Edition of 70 “… she proved herself a draughtsman of visionary gift, capable of tracing, in precise linearity and expressive tone and colour, the dynamism and rhythm of things.” Mel Gooding from A Discipline of the Mind. The Drawings of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham at The Pier Arts Centre, Orkney March 2009 and tour

8 Lines II 2001 Etching on paper 57.5 x 76cm Edition of 70 For Barns-Graham drawing was a “discipline of the mind” and this series, begun in the 1970s, encapsulates her fascination with the energy and linear rhythms of sea and weather, transforming their description into meditative abstractions.

Untitled 1983 Dialogue between Wind and Sand (1) 1982 Mixed media on card Pen ink and oil on card 20 x 27cm 16 x 21.2cm Snow Blown Carbeth Stirlingshire 1978 Mixed media on card 29.5 x 21cm

Shell (detail) 1979 Mixed media on card 18.7 x 20.1cm

Orange Sky 2 1980 Untitled 1991 Mixed media on card Pen ink and oil on card 13 x 16.3cm 17.8 x 22.7cm Wind Music no.2 1980 Sea Sound no.2 1980 Mixed media on board Mixed media on hardboard 26.4 x 39.3cm 27 x 39.9cm Shoal 1979 Mixed media on card 20 x 27cm During the last few years of her life (1998-2004) Wilhelmina Barns-Graham produced some of the most vibrant and colour sensitive work of her long career, forging a close working relationship with Carol Robertson of Graal Press to create an astounding 44 editioned silkscreen prints and a further 17 proofs to be posthumously printed. Graal’s introduction of new processes and materials, together with the technique of working on clear sheets which could be used in numerous combinations, allowed Barns-Graham untiringly to continue to explore themes and new ideas.

Another Time 1999 Quick Time 1999/2005 Just in Time (detail) 1999 Screen print on paper Screen print on paper Screen print on paper 58 x 76cm 76 x 58cm 58 x 76cm Edition of 75 Edition of 25 Edition of 75

Vision in Time II 2001 Screen print on paper 76 x 58cm Edition of 70 Quiet Time 1999 Walkabout Time 1999 Screen print on paper Screen print on paper 57 x 77cm 58 x 76cm Edition of 50 Edition of 50 Tango 2003 Screen print on paper 58 x 58cm Edition of 70 Millennium Blue 2000 Millennium Blue II 2000 Screen print on paper Screen print on paper 24 x 30.5cm 24 x 30.5cm Edition of 75 Edition of 75

Millennium Red 2000 Millennium Pink 2000 Screen print on paper Screen print on paper 24 x 30.5cm 24 x 30.5cm Edition of 75 Edition of 75

Millennium Brown 2000 Millennium Green 2000 Screen print on paper Screen print on paper 24 x 30.5cm 24 x 30.5cm Edition of 75 Edition of 75 White Circle Series III 2003 Screen print on paper 56 x 76cm Edition of 70 White Circle Series I 2003 Screen print on paper 56 x 56cm Edition of 70 Orange and Lemon Playing Games 1999 Screen print on paper 29.3 x 40cm Edition of 75 “It's very important what you say and do when you are old”, she [Wilhelmina Barns-Graham] says to me, before reading out her artistic credo: “Now I am at the stage of urgency. My theme is celebration of life, joy, the importance of colour, form, space and texture. Brushstrokes that can be happy, risky, thin, fat, fluid and textured. Having a positive mind and constantly being aware and hopefully being allowed to live longer to increase this celebration.” Extract from Wilhelmina Barns-Graham in conversation with John McEwen, published in the Daily Telegraph, March 25, 2001, on the occasion of her receiving her CBE.

Water Dance (Porthmeor) I 2003 Red Playing Games III 2000 Screen print on paper Screen print on paper 56 x 56cm 29.5 x 40cm Edition of 70 Edition of 75 Wilhelmina Barns-Graham CBE HRSA HRSW Selected Biography Selected Solo Exhibitions 1912 Born 8 June, St Andrews, Fife 1947/49/54 Downing Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall 1924 Family moved to Stirlingshire 1949/52 Redfern Gallery, London 1930 Visited Paris and Rouen 1951 St Ives Festival 1932 Edinburgh College of Art, Diploma course 1954 Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London (Painting) DAE 1956/59/60/81 Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 1934-37 Continued at Edinburgh College of Art 1971 Marjorie Parr Gallery, London 1940 Went to Cornwall with award as recommended 1976 Wills Lane Gallery, St Ives by Hubert Wellington 1978 The New Art Centre, London 1942 Became member of Newlyn Society of Artists 1984 The Pier Arts Centre, Orkney and St Ives Society of Artists 1987 Gillian Jason Gallery, London 1946 First meetings of Crypt Group in her studio 1989-90 W. Barns-Graham Retrospective 1940 - 1989, 1947-48 Crypt Group second and third exhibitions touring: Newlyn Art Gallery, Penzance; City Met David Lewis (married 1949) Art Centre, Edinburgh; Perth Museum and Art 1949 Worked on glacier drawings and gouaches in Gallery; Crawford Art Centre, St Andrews; Switzerland Maclaurin Art Gallery, Ayr Founder member of the Penwith Society of Arts 1992 W. Barns-Graham Drawings. Crawford Art Resigned from the St Ives Society of Artists Centre, St Andrews and The Royal Cornwall with 16 others Museum, Truro 1956-57 On staff of Leeds School of Art 1992-3 W. Barns-Graham at 80, William Jackson 1960 Inherited Balmungo estate, near St Andrews Gallery, London touring to Lillie Art Gallery, Milngavie; Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal; Royal 1961-63 Rents studio in London Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter; Dundee Art 1963 Returned to St Ives Galleries & Museum, Dundee; Wakefield Art Marriage annulled Gallery, Wakefield 1992 Received Honorary Doctorate, University of 1995 Art First, London St.Andrews 1996-7 The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Honorary Member Penwith Society and Newlyn Edinburgh Society 1999-2000 Wilhelmina Barns-Graham: An Enduring Image, 1987 Establishes The Barns-Graham Trust (activated Tate Gallery St. Ives upon her death in 2004) W.Barns-Graham Prints, Exeter University Honorary Member RSA and RSW and Scottish Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Arts Club 2002-2004 W.Barns-Graham : Painting as Celebration, Received Honorary Doctorate, University of Crawford Art Centre, St. Andrews, travelling Plymouth to Aberdeen Art Gallery; Royal Cornwall Awarded CBE Museum, Truro; Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield; Awarded Honorary Doctorate, University of City Art Gallery and Museum, York; Peter Exeter Scott Gallery, Lancaster University; Ferens Art 2003 Awarded Honorary Doctorate, Heriot Watt Gallery, Kingston upon Hull; Lillie Art Gallery, University, Edinburgh Milngavie; Hawick Museum 2004 Died 26 January, St Andrews Wilhelmina Barns-Graham 1912 – 2004 : A Tribute – Recent Paintings and New Prints, Art First, London Wilhelmina Barns-Graham : Movement and Light Imag(in)ing Time, Tate St Ives 2007 Elemental Energies: the Art of Wilhelmina Selected Group Exhibitions Barns-Graham, Trinity Hall, Cambridge 1935-43* Society of Scottish Artists, Edinburgh A Different Way of Working, Gateway Gallery, 1941/44/86/88 Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh University of St Andrews 1942-99* Newlyn Society of Artists A Life in Print, Penwith Galleries, St Ives 1942-49* St Ives Society of Artists 2008 David Krut Projects, New York 1947/48 Crypt Group, St Ives An Adventure in printmaking, Bohun Gallery, 1949-99* Penwith Society of Arts, St Ives Henley on Thames 1951 Abstract Art, AIA London 2009 Order and Disorder. Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Danish, British and American Abstract Artists, Paintings 1965-1980. Art First, London Riverside Museum, New York 2009-12 A Discipline of the Mind – The Drawings of 1953 International watercolour exhibition, Brooklyn Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Pier Arts Centre, Museum, New York Stromness, Orkney, and tour to Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds; Artists of Fame and Promise, Leicester Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery; Burton Galleries, London Art Gallery and Museum, Bideford, North 1954 British Painting and Sculpture, Whitechapel Art Devon; Perth Art Gallery & Museum Gallery, London 2010 Relief Collages 1982-1987, The Scottish 1960 Contemporary Scottish Artists, Scottish Arts Gallery, Edinburgh Council touring exhibition in Canada Wilhelmina Barns-Graham – On Growth and International exhibition of works in gouache, Form Paintings and Drawings 1950-2002, Tower New York Building, University of Dundee (as part of the British Watercolours, Waddington Gallery, 150th D’Arcy Thomson Anniversary) London (tour to Sweden) 2011 Colour as Celebration, Prints and Paintings, 1966 WIAC Exhibition, Whitechapel Art Gallery Bohun Gallery, Henley on Thames (invited artist) 2012 Wilhelmina Barns-Graham: a Scottish artist in 1969 Paintings 1940-1949, SAC touring Edinburgh St Ives, Fleming Collection, London and City 1977 British Artists of the 60s, The Tate Gallery, Art Centre Edinburgh London Wilhelmina Barns-Graham: a Line of Drawing Cornwall 1940-55, New Art Centre, London 1943-1993, Art First, London 1978 Painters in parallel, SAC (festival exhibition) A Joy of Colour: late prints and paintings by 1981/83 Contemporary Art from Scotland, The Scottish Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Watermill Gallery, Gallery, Edinburgh (SAC tour) Aberfeldy 1982 Art from Cornwall, Galerie Artica, Cuxhaven Wilhelmina Barns-Graham; from St Andrews to 1984 Homage to Herbert Read, University of Kent, St Ives, 108 Fine Art, Harrogate Canterbury A Different Way of Working. The Prints of 1985 St Ives 1939-64, The Tate Gallery, London Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Inverness Museum 1989 A Century of Art in Cornwall, 1889 - 1989, The & Art Gallery and tour to St Fergus Gallery, County Museum and Art Gallery, Truro Wick; Iona Gallery, Kingussie; Gracefield Art Centre, Dumfries 40 Years at the Penwith, Penwith Society, St. Ives A St Andrews Modernist. Paintings, Drawings & prints by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham 1912-2004, 1992 New Beginnings, Postwar British Art, Scottish Fraser Gallery, St Andrews National Gallery of Modern Art Wilhelmina Barns-Graham - Collector’s Choice, 1995 Porthmeor Beach: A Century of Images, Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh Tate St Ives An Artist in St Ives: Paintings & Drawings by 100 Years Context & Continuity, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham 1912-2004, Belgrave Newlyn Art Gallery Gallery, St Ives A Cornish Midsummer, Royal West of England Academy; in collaboration with the Penwith Society 1997 The 50s works, British Council Collection Selected Bibliography touring Cyprus and France Bird, Michael St Ives Artists: A Biography of Place and Time, 2001 St. Ives in the 60s, Tate St.Ives Lund Humphries, 2008 2007 Pier Art Centre, Stromness, Orkney Cross, Tom Painting the Warmth of the Sun, St Ives Artists Modernism in St Ives, Tate St. Ives 1939-1975, Alison Hodge/Lutterworth Press, 2008 Behind Closed Doors, Barber Institute of Art, 1984 University of Birmingham Gooding, Mel Wilhelmina Barns-Graham: Movement 2009 Society of Scottish Artists 112th Annual and Light Imag(in)ing Time, Tate Gallery Exhibition, Vision Building, Dundee Publications, 2005 * Indicates consecutive annual exhibitions. Gooding, Mel A Discipline of the Mind. The Drawings of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, exhibition catalogue, The Pier Arts Centre/The Barns- Works in Public Collections including Graham Charitable Trust, 2009 Aberdeen Art Gallery Green, Lynne W. Barns-Graham: a studio life, Lund Arts Council of Great Britain, London Humphries, 2001, 2nd edition 2011 Birmingham City Museum & Art Gallery Green, Lynne Wilhelmina Barns-Graham: a Scottish artist in British Council, London St Ives, exhibition catalogue, 2012 British Museum, London Gunn, Ann The Prints of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham : A Contemporary Art Society, London Complete Catalogue, Lund Humphries, 2007 Dundee Museum and Art Gallery Hall, Douglas W. Barns-Graham Retrospective 1940-1989, Edinburgh City Art Centre exhibition catalogue, Edinburgh City Art Centre, 1989 Ferens Art Gallery, Hull Hartley, Keith Scottish Art since 1900, National Galleries of Government Art Collection Scotland, 1990 Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museums, Glasgow Lewis, David St Ives 1939-64, exhibition catalogue, The Tate Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge Gallery, London 1985 Leeds City Art Gallery McEwen, John A Painter on the Edge of Urgency, The Sunday Manchester City Art Gallery Telegraph, March 25, 2001 Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney Oliver, Cordelia Painters in Parallel, Scottish Arts Council, 1978 Plymouth City Art Gallery Read, Herbert Contemporary British Art, Penguin Books, 1951 Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Saunders, Linda W. Barns-Graham, Modern Painters, Vol. 2, No. Edinburgh 3, Autumn 1989 Southampton City Art Gallery Spalding Frances British Art Since 1900, Thames & Hudson, 1986 Tate Gallery, London Taylor, John Russell The Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation, London W. Barns-Graham at 80: a New View, exhibition Victoria and Albert Museum, London catalogue, William Jackson Gallery, London, Wolverhampton City Art Gallery 1992 Yakir, Nedira Women Artists and Modernism, edited by Katy Deepwell, Manchester University Press, 1998 WBG in her Porthmeor Studio 1962 Cornish Magazine

Thanks go to Geoffrey Bertram and Helen Scott of the Barns-Graham Charitable Trust, and to Burt Brill & Cardens for their support of the exhibition. Water Rhythm 1979-1987 Pen ink and mixed media on card 14cm x 20.5cm

Shirley Crowther Art The Jointure Studios 11 South Street Ditchling Sussex BN6 8UQ

01273 841244 [email protected] www.shirleycrowtherart.com

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