Four Giants of British Modernism

London Beaux-Arts Gallery pays tribute to Four Giants of British Modernism: Terry Frost, William Scott, Peter Lanyon and Patrick Heron. All four worked very closely with Beaux-Arts Galleries during their careers, and this new exhibition running for a month from 19 September to 19 October pays tribute to the artists who revolutionized British Art in their time.

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London’s Beaux-Arts Gallery offers a retrospective of some of Terry Frost, Williams Scott, Peter Lanyon and Patrick Heron’s greatest works as they lived and worked through the harsh time of post-war Britain. The artists sought to convey a new sense of hope, breaking away from the desolate world they lived in. All four quickly became pioneers of British Abstract Art and were associated with the famous St. Ives School, along with other artists such as Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Roger Hilton and Bernard Leach. At the beginning of the war, this little fishing village in West Cornwall increased in popularity among the young emerging artists. This attraction was mainly due to the village’s breathtaking views and clarity of light, a consequence of its peninsula location. While the artists had very different upbringings, it is no coincidence they gathered in Cornwall as they all had profound connections with the place. Terry Frost moved to St. Ives in 1942, after his release from a Nazi prison for four years. Peter Lanyon was born in St. Ives to a Cornish family. Patrick Heron was born in Leeds and studied at the Slade School of Art in London before permanently moving to Cornwall after the war. Finally, William Scott was born in Scotland and joined the army in 1942 before meeting his fellow artists as an Academician, then spending some time in Cornwall.