07/06/2026
St Ives is often, and rightly, described as one of the most important and influential artistic towns in the world, and for good reason.
Beginning as a small Cornish fishing community known as Porthia sometime in the 5th century, St Ives evolved first into one of the north coast's major pilchard fishing ports, then into a popular seaside destination, before becoming the centre of a remarkable and innovative artistic movement. Throughout the early and mid 20th century, the St Ives School helped to change the course of modern British art.
The story really begins in the late 19th century, when painters such as James McNeill Whistler, along with his pupils, the notable artists Walter Sickert and Mortimer Menpes, were drawn to St Ives by its extraordinary light, rugged coastline and working harbour.
However, arguably one of the town's most influential, yet least commercially successful, artists was a local mariner named Alfred Wallis. Wallis had no formal training and was entirely self-taught. He disregarded traditional academic conventions, and his work is characterised by a lack of formal perspective, flattened and distorted scale, and the use of household paints on scraps of found materials. He began painting from memory in his seventies, capturing the essence of a working port town and the maritime scenes he had known throughout his life.
In 1928, Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood discovered Wallis's paintings and immediately recognised their originality. This moment can be seen as a turning point in the history of the St Ives art scene.
Living in poverty, Wallis became gravely ill in July 1941 and, being destitute, was admitted to Madron Workhouse. Following his death in August 1942, his funeral at Barnoon Cemetery was interrupted by a group of admirers who arranged a private grave and a second funeral. His grave remained unmarked for more than eighteen months until the potter Bernard Leach proposed creating a decorative tile memorial. The result was a beautifully distinctive and fitting tribute. The tiles depict an old man standing at the foot of a lighthouse, a motif that appeared repeatedly in Wallis's paintings.
Wallis's work is often described as naïve or "outsider art" and, although he achieved little commercial success during his lifetime, it would go on to inspire a generation of modern artists.
During the Second World War, Ben Nicholson and the sculptor Barbara Hepworth moved to St Ives. They were soon followed by the Russian Constructivist sculptor Naum Gabo. Together, they brought the ideas of European modernism to Cornwall and helped transform the town into a centre of artistic innovation.
After the war, a remarkable generation of artists emerged. Among the most celebrated were Peter Lanyon, the only major St Ives School artist born in the town, Patrick Heron, whose vibrant colour field paintings gained international acclaim, Terry Frost, renowned for his joyful abstract compositions inspired by Cornish light and landscape and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, whose powerful abstract works established her as one of Britain's most important post war artists.
Other key figures included Bryan Wynter, Roger Hilton, John Wells, Paul Feiler, Denis Mitchell, Sven Berlin, Karl Weschke, Alexander Mackenzie and Tony O'Malley. Together, they formed what became known as the St Ives School, a movement that brought international artistic attention to this corner of Cornwall.
The artistic influence of St Ives extended beyond painting and sculpture. In 1920, Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada established the Leach Pottery, creating what many regard as the birthplace of British studio pottery and influencing generations of ceramic artists.
Over the years, the town also attracted and inspired artists such as Francis Bacon, William Scott, Sandra Blow, Bryan Pearce, Breon O'Casey and many others, all drawn by the same unique combination of landscape, light and creative community.
Today, the legacy of Alfred Wallis, Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Peter Lanyon, Patrick Heron, Terry Frost, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Bernard Leach and their contemporaries can still be felt throughout the town. Their work helped transform St Ives from a fishing harbour on the very edge of Europe into one of the most significant centres of modern art anywhere in the world.
Photo the grave of Alfred Wallis in Barnoon Cemetery
