Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912-2004) was one of the foremost painters working in St Ives after moving there from Edinburgh in 1940. Her paintings, alongside those of her contemporaries that comprise the St Ives School, contributed greatly to the development of Modernist British painting in the mid to late twentieth century.

 

Inspirational Journeys focuses on the artists tours into Europe over a 50-year period and the impact these journeys had on her practice as an artist. From her visit to Switzerland in 1949 to her final trip to Lanzarote in 1993 and other journeys in between to Italy in the 1950s, Spain and Orkney, works in the exhibition range from remarkable on-the-spot pencil drawings to bold and colourful abstract paintings. The show foregrounds a very positive relationship with Europe and the possibility of inspiration though travel and cultural exchange.