Overview of the St Ives School

The St Ives School refers to a Modernist artistic circle that emerged in the coastal town of St Ives, Cornwall in post-World War II Britain, which rejected representational painting in favour of abstraction. Drawn by the singular qualities of West Cornish light, St Ives’ ancient landscapes and the roiling sea, the St Ives artists ushered in a new age of British modernism.

Lot 25: Alfred Wallis, British 18551942 - Untitled (Double-sided)

Price Realised: £6,500

The St Ives School’s formation can be credited to Alfred Wallis, whose work as a fisherman informed his artistic pursuits, predominantly depicting the Cornish coastlines in the 1920s. Wallis’s ‘naive’ folk-art style of painting attracted the likes of artists Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood, who discovered his work while visiting St Ives in 1928.

In 1939, at the outbreak of the Second World War, Nicholson and then wife, the sculptor Dame Barbara Hepworth, settled near St Ives, accompanied by Russian constructivist Naum Gabo. After the war St Ives became a centre for modern and abstract developments in British art and attracted a younger generation of creatives in the 1950s and 1960s, including Peter Lanyon, Paul Feiler and Sir Terry Frost.

Lot 1: Ben Nicholson OM, British 1894-1982, Still Life, 1962
Price Realised: £5,248

The principal figures of the St Ives School include Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Paul Feiler, Sir Terry Frost, Patrick Heron, Roger Hilton, Peter Lanyon, Karl Weschke and Bryan Wynter, together with the pioneer modern potter, Bernard Leach.

 

This guide provides an insight for collectors into the importance of the St Ives School, through the lens of two of its principal artists, Frost and Lanyon. 

Key features of St Ives School Art

While St Ives artists did not have a singular style, they were united in their connection to the Cornish landscape. The artists were inspired by the aesthetic movements of Constructivism, Cubism and Abstract Expressionism with works often featuring cliffs, harbours, ships and seascapes.

Lot 65: Patrick Heron CBE, British 1920-1999, Winchester Red 1, 1967
Price Realised: £5,248

The work of the St Ives School is distinguished by a sensitivity to colour, form and space. The shapes of the coastline – from craggy cliffs to curling waves – can be found across the painting, collage and sculpture of the St Ives School. The unique light that reflects off the sea is captured in glowing turquoise tones, offset by natural muted shades. Most of all, the work of the St Ives School is distinguished by a sense of movement, echoing the restless energy of the sea.

Lot 26: Kate Nicholson, British 1929–2019 - White Light, Lesbos, 1965
Price Realised: £5,773

Why are the St Ives Artists significant?

Particularly following the Second World War, St Ives became a locus of modernist art in Britain. The town has remained a home to a community of artists and the cobbled streets thrive with acclaimed galleries exhibiting an array of traditional and contemporary artwork, craft workshops and working artist’s studios. The Tate St Ives houses a robust collection of St Ives School art, as well as the work of other important British modern artists. 

Lot 271: Wilhelmina Barns-Graham CBE, British 1912-2004 - White Circle Series, 2003
Price Realised: £7,216

Starting a collection

In the last 5 years, there has been a strong focus from collectors on female British artists from the St. Ives School. At auction, works by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and Margaret Mellis have reached impressive hammer prices, while renowned sculptor Barbara Hepworth continues to break records. Collectors are also showing increased interest in the next generation of St. Ives artists. Kate Nicholson, the daughter of Ben and Winifred Nicholson, comes from a lineage deeply rooted in the St. Ives tradition and has been gaining significant attention in recent years.

Lot 181: Margaret Mellis, Scottish 1914-2009 -Small White Relief, 1970
Price Realised: £14,300

Key Artist: Peter Lanyon (1918-1964)

Peter Lanyon was a principal figure in the St Ives School, who pioneered Abstract Expressionism in post-war Britain. From a young age, Lanyon was immersed in creative circles which led to him study at the Penzance School of Art. Under the wing of artist Ben Nicholson, Lanyon moved back to his hometown St Ives and started to paint in an abstract style.

 Much like Alfred Wallis, Lanyon took inspiration from the Cornish coastline and his love for gliding within his work. Lanyon expressed in 1963 that “It is impossible for me to make painting that has no reference to the very powerful landscape in which I live.”

His study for Mullion Bay II is an example of his later works with charcoal, characterised by more gestural and rugged lines. Rosebery’s has sold 4 lots of Lanyon’s work in 2024, and he is ranked 808th in the top 5000 world ranking of best-selling artists at auction.

From August to September 2025, there will be an exhibition at the Penwith Gallery focusing on ‘Lanyon and Friends’ and two books about him will be released.

 

Key Artist: Sir Terry Frost (1915-2003)  

Sir Terry Frost was an esteemed artist who integrated into the prolific creative community of the St Ives school of Painting, which he joined in 1946. Frost completed his first abstract painting in 1949, taking inspiration from Ben Nicholson and Victor Pasmore. His work is colourful and lively, infusing the soft Cornish light with more abstract curved shapes. Lot 14 is an example of Frost’s striking approach to colour, with its washes of electric blue. His work has been exhibited in galleries including the MET, the Royal Academy and the Tate, and he was knighted in 1998 for his instrumental contributions to the modernist art movement.

Lot 21: Sir Terry Frost RA, British 1915-2003 - Three Circular Motifs
Price Realised: £1,115

In November 2024, Roseberys sold 10 lots of Frost’s work from the Collection of Mollie and Graham Dark. Mollie and Graham Dark were pivotal figures in Cornwall’s avant-garde, becoming close friends with a number of the most important artists associated with post-war St. Ives, including Frost, Lanyon and Feiler, and collecting and carefully curating a wonderful body of their artworks.

Frost’s works have gone under the hammer at public auction 3,850 times, with strong results in the Prints & Multiples category, demonstrating consistent demand from collectors today.

Which auctions can you buy works by St Ives artists in? 

Lot 9: Paul Feiler, British 1918-2013 - Collage study, 1963
Price Realised: £3,149

Roseberys offers works by important St. Ives artists in a variety of media, including paintings, sculpture, pottery and prints, amongst others. St Ives art is most likely to appear in: Modern British & 20th Century Art, Design and Prints & Multiples. Works to sell at auction by a St Ives artist? Contact a Roseberys specialist in the departments today for more information.  

By Amari Roland