Today's Object of the Week is actually a series of objects - little-seen paintings by a celebrated artist which is on show in the North East.
A LARGE SCALE exhibition that explores the work of a celebrated Scottish artist has opened in Newcastle University’s Hatton Gallery.
It is the most significant exhibition of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham’s work in recent years and a chance to engage with works including those rarely seen before by the public in a solo museum presentation for over 30 years.
It includes her early works inspired by the Cornish landscape through to the abstract canvases she made during the 1960s and early 1970s.
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In particular, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham: Paths to Abstraction charts the crucial period of artistic progress during the first half of the artist’s career which saw her development from figuration to abstraction.
The exhibition features about 70 paintings and drawings dating from 1935 to 1972, highlighting Barns-Graham’s significant contribution to British 20th century abstract painting.
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham was born in St Andrews, Fife, in June 1912. After studying at Edinburgh College of Art, she moved to Cornwall where she became a prominent member of the St Ives school, alongside Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo.
From the 1960s, the artist kept studios in both St Andrews and St Ives, as well as traveling significantly in Europe, drawing inspiration and insight from the landscapes and seascapes she came across along the way.
Highlights include Barns-Graham’s striking depictions of the Grindelwald Glacier in Switzerland, which have also recently been an inspiration for film maker Mark Cousins, in his critically acclaimed installation about Barns-Graham as well as his forthcoming feature film.
With major works drawn from the Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust collection, a number of loans will also add to the quality of the selection.
These include two fine examples of her celebrated ‘Glacier’ paintings, seen together for the first time since the 1950s – National Galleries of Scotland’s ‘Glacier Chasm’ and the London Borough of Camden’s ‘Ice Cavern’, both painted in 1951.
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Further notable works that will be on display include figurative landscapes from St Ives, drawings and paintings from the artist’s exploration of the Grindelwald Glacier, and paintings from the abstract series entitled Things of a Kind in Order and Disorder.
Other works to be shown come from the Wilhemina Barns-Graham Trust and include The Road (1935), which has never been seen before in a public gallery. Another significant work, Wicca (1957), recently conserved will be seen for the first time.
* The exhibition is now open at the Hatton Gallery on Kings Road, Newcastle, and runs until Saturday, May 20. The gallery is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm. Entry is free, suggested donation £5.
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