Wilhelmina Barns-Graham

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owners' family in the early 1950s

There is a puncture mark in the lower right quadrant. There are a series of abrasions to the paint surface: one large abrasion in the upper left quadrant, one to the upper left corner, one on the left edge in the lower left quadrant, a few scattered abrasions along the top edge and one to the top right corner. There are other slight abrasions to the lower right edge and corner. There are a series of cosmetic abrasions across the paint surface, with the most pronounced being in the lower left quadrant. There are two black spots of paint in the centre of the work, and another smaller spot of surface matter near the top right corner. Under ultra-violet light the work is free from retouching. The work is unframed.
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From her arrival in St.Ives in 1940, the town itself provided a rich source of subjects for Barns-Graham and the distinctive landmarks and views appear frequently in the work of the period. In 1949, she produced a number of images of the town which were more complex in their drawing and like the present work use a high viewpoint to give a sense of the sweep of the beaches that define the shape of the town. Clearly owing something to Ben Nicholson's drawings of the town, Barns-Graham's drawings are much more expressive, and in the present work the contrast between the thinned oil wash over the gesso support and the incredibly varied use of the pencil gives the work a depth that is comparable to that seen in the Glacier series of paintings of 1950-51.

The present work looks towards The Island from Barnoon, the high point above Porthmeor Beach and, by coincidence, the site now occupied by Tate St Ives.