WILHELMINA (“WILLIE”) BARNES-GRAHAM

Brought up by the sea in St Andrews, Willie came from a relatively well to do family. She wanted to be an artist from an early age. “Painting chose me, not I it”.

While at art school, her Principal suggested she move to St Ives, where she worked as an artist for the rest of her long life. She met Barbara Hepworth in her first few days there, and was encouraged and supported in her art both by her and her husband Ben Nicholson.

She started to gain recognition and some commercial success in the 1950s, albeit frustratingly limited. She developed a range of different approaches to abstract art. Her career was one of constant experimentation and total commitment.

In her eighties, Willie struck up a staggeringly creative partnership with print maker Carol Robertson. The silkscreen prints at Harcourt Chambers are from this period, which was one of the most productive of her life. They exemplify her wonderful sense of colour, balance and movement. Her energy was formidable, even in to her nineties. “You can print this one when I’m dead!”, she would say, as the printers could hardly keep up with her.

The prints at Harcourt Chambers come from the Wilhelmina Barnes-Graham Trust, set up by the artist to preserve her estate and supply bursaries, grants and residencies to support students and practising artists. The majority of the sale proceeds of these prints will go to the Trust.

One of the most significant 20th century artists working in Britain, Willie finally received the recognition she deserved in her latter years, with a one person show at the Tate St Ives in 1999, and being awarded the CBE in 2000. “At my age, there’s now no time to be lost. I say to myself, “Do it now, say it now, don’t be afraid”. I’ve got today, but who knows about tomorrow? I’m not ready for death yet, there’s so much I want to do. Life is so exciting; nature is so exciting. Trying to catch the one simple statement about it. That’s what I’m aiming for, I’ll keep on trying”. Willie Barnes-Graham in 1996.