Paintings

The paintings found in this part of the site are representative examples of Barns-Graham’s work made in the sixty three years following her arrival in St Ives in 1940. They are categorised by decade and sub-divided in to the predominant themes of each period. The site will be expanded as further photography is completed.

On taking an overview of Barns-Graham’ paintings one is struck by the variety of imagery.  She appears to have kept altering her style; the work has been representational, hard edge abstract, expressionist. Throughout the years this variability has led, on occasion, to her being accused of being contrary, reflecting the view that she was a painter who did not know what she was doing or where she wanted to go. However it is much easier today to the see the links between images and themes, and to be able to examine how she developed her own personal visual language. It is clear that she remained true to her artistic principles throughout her life.

The key elements of Barns-Graham’s painting that remain the most evidently consistent throughout the decades, that flow through the apparently different styles of imagery, are form, movement and colour. The expansive number of ways in which these can be described illustrate her extraordinary creativity and the thoroughness of her investigations in to the world around her.

For availability please contact Art First on info@artfirst.co.uk or The Scottish Gallery on mail@scottish-gallery.co.uk