The Penwith Society of Arts is an art group formed in St Ives,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, England, UK, in early 1949 by abstract artists who broke away from the more conservative
St Ives School
The St Ives School refers to a group of artists living and working in the Cornish town of St Ives.Barbara Hepworth and
Ben Nicholson
Benjamin Lauder Nicholson, OM (10 April 1894 – 6 February 1982) was an English painter of abstract compositions (sometimes in low relief), landscape and still-life.
Background and training
Nicholson was born on 10 April 1894 in De ...
, and included members of the Crypt Group of the St Ives Society, including
Peter Lanyon
George Peter Lanyon (8 February 1918 – 31 August 1964) was a British painter of landscapes leaning heavily towards abstraction. Lanyon was one of the most important artists to emerge in post-war Britain. Despite his early death at the ag ...
and Sven Berlin. Other early members included: Leonard Fuller, Isobel Heath, Alexander Mackenzie, John Wells, Bryan Wynter, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, David Haughton, Denis Mitchell, and the printer Guido Morris. Herbert Read was invited to be the first president.
The group bought fishing lofts along Porthmeor beach to use as artists' studios, after an acrimonious split from the established St Ives Society of Artists. Then on 8 February 1949, after a town meeting at the Castle Inn, a dissident group set up shop in Fore street, St Ives. In 1960 an old pilchard factory was taken over with converted studios above. After ten years of sincere guidance and deep interest, funds were raised by Barbara Hepworth, with the aim of converting adjacent buildings into studios for craft and sculpture as well as painting; these expanded the project still further at Back Road, St Ives. In 1967
Kathleen Watkins
Kathleen Watkins (born 17 October 1934) is an Irish broadcaster, harpist, actress, singer and author. She is the widow of Gay Byrne.
She played Grace Gifford in the 1966 docudrama ''Insurrection
Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a r ...
was appointed curator and secretary (1967-2013) of the society advising, among other things, clients on potential purchases.