Bryan Wynter was one of the St. Ives

St Ives, Cornwall

St Ives is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing. The decline in fishing, however, caused a shift in commercial...

 group of British painters. His work was mainly abstract, drawing upon nature for inspiration.

Born in London, he began in 1933 as a trainee in the family business of farming and laundering. In 1937-38 he studied at Westminster School of Art, and 1938-40 at the Slade School of Fine Art

Slade School of Fine Art

The Slade School of Fine Art is a world-renownedart school in London, United Kingdom, and a department of University College London...

, London. In the Second World War he was a conscientious objector

Conscientious objector

A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....

, first working on land drainage at St Ives, Cornwall, and then looking after monkeys being studied by the zoologist Solly Zuckerman

Solly Zuckerman

Solly Zuckerman, Baron Zuckerman, OM, KCB, FRS was a British public servant, zoologist, and scientific advisor who is best remembered as an advisor to the Allies on bombing strategy in World War II, for his work to advance the cause of nuclear non-proliferation, and for his role in bringing...

.

He settled in Zennor

Zennor

Zennor is a village and civil parish in Cornwall in England. The parish includes the villages of Zennor, Boswednack and Porthmeor and the hamlet of Treen. It is located on the north coast, about north of Penzance. Alphabetically, the parish is the last in Britain—its name comes from the Cornish...

, Cornwall in 1945, and in 1946 was co-founder of the Crypt Group in 1946. He taught at Bath Academy of Art, Corsham

Corsham

Corsham is a historic market town and civil parish in north west Wiltshire, England. It is at the south western extreme of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 which was formerly the main turnpike road from London to Bristol, between Bath and Chippenham ....

, 1951-56. He died at Penzance

Penzance

Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...

, Cornwall. His auction record is £115,250 for his painting "The Indias", set at Sotheby's on 3 November 2010.

In 2001 he was the subject of Bryan Wnter: A Selected Retrospective at Tate St Ives

Tate St Ives

Tate St Ives is an art gallery in St Ives, Cornwall, England, exhibiting work by modern British artists, including work of the St Ives School. The three storey building, designed by architects Evans and Shalev, lies on the site of an old gas works, overlooking Porthmeor Beach. It was opened in...

. Nine of his works are in the Tate collection, and 14 in the collection of the British Council

British Council

The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...

. He works are also in the collections of the Arts Council

Arts council

An arts council is a government or private, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing events at home and abroad...

, the National Galleries of Scotland

National Galleries of Scotland

The National Galleries of Scotland are the five national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries. It is one of the country's National Collections.-List of national galleries:* The National Gallery of Scotland* The Royal Scottish Academy Building...

, Glasgow Museums, Southampton City Art Gallery

Southampton City Art Gallery

The Southampton City Art Gallery is an art gallery in Southampton, southern England. It is located in the Civic Centre on Commercial Road.The gallery's art collection covers six centuries of European art history, with over 3,500 works. It is housed in an example of 1930s municipal architecture...

, York City Art Gallery, the Ferens Art Gallery

Ferens Art Gallery

The Ferens Art Gallery is an art gallery in the English city of Kingston upon Hull. The site and money for the gallery were donated to the city by Thomas Ferens, after whom it is named. Opened in 1927,...

, Hull, the Government Art Collection

Government Art Collection

The United Kingdom's Government Art Collection places works of art in major Government buildings in the UK and around the world to promote British art, culture and history....

 and Leeds City Art Gallery.

Some of his most remarkable works are constructions which he titled IMOOS (Images Moving Out Onto Space). Using a parabolic mirror, he would hang contrasting pairs of painted shapes, which rotated freely. Their reversed reflections enlarged, appearing to move in opposite directions.

External links

• Cornwall County Council art collection- biographical information and chronology
• Tate online
• Image in National Portrait Gallery

Further reading

• Bryan Wynter 1915-1975: catalogue of an exhibition 16 October – 15 November 2002, introduction by Mel Gooding. Jonathan Clark Fine Art, London, 2002. - Gooding gives a deep analysis of the influences on Wynter, including his friendship with Patrick Heron
  Patrick Heron
  Patrick Heron , was an English painter, writer and designer, based in St. Ives, Cornwall.- Early life :...
  
  . However, there is little biographical material in the three A4 pages. Bibliographical notes. 16 works illustrated in colour.
• Bryan Wynter (St.Ives Artists series) by Chris Stephens. Tate Gallery Publishing (1999) ISBN 1-85437-293-9