Welcome. This is the official web site for Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and The Barns-Graham Charitable Trust.

Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912-2004) was one of the foremost painters working in St Ives after moving there in 1940. Her paintings, alongside those of her contemporaries that comprise the St Ives school, contributed greatly to the development of Modernist British painting in the mid to late twentieth century. Since 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 of her professional life. She was still working daily at the very end.

The Barns-Graham Charitable Trust was established by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham in 1987, and came into effect following her death in January 2004. It was created to secure her life’s work and archive for future generations.

Willie, as she was known to her friends, had a clear vision and ambition for her Trust. As she directed, the Trust is based at her St Andrews home, Balmungo House. The house has been completely refurbished recently to become a resource centre with exhibition spaces for study displays that make use of and complement her art collection; to create a centre of education for art students and art historians; to provide artists and writers the space and resources with which to develop their work through administering a residency programme.

A second direction was that the trustees provide financial support for Arts students who require assistance, by making available grants, scholarships or bursaries to further their education in the Fine Arts and the History of Art.

These directives lie at the core of the Trust’s aims.

For more detailed information about Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and the Trust’s aims and activities, please click on the headings at the top and to the left.

If you would like to contact the Trust please write to us at Balmungo House, Balmungo, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LW or click here to email.