View the St Ives Collection at Phillips Berkley Sq. London to see the works of the Cornwall artist , who like the NY School of Abstract artist who shaped the visual language synboliticall after WW2 were influenced by their environments shaped by Atlantic landscape enhanced lighting the colors forming their visions.
PHILLIPS CELEBRATES THE LEGACY OF THE ST IVES SCHOOL WITH SUMMER EXHIBITION ST IVES: THE MODERN COAST Leading Figures of British Modernism Sit Alongside Rare Loans from The Hepworth Wakefield and The Ingram Collection Open to the Public from 9 July to 7 August 
Christopher Wood Drying Sails, Mousehole, Cornwall, 1930 LONDON – 30 JUNE 2026 – Phillips is excited to present St Ives: The Modern Coast. The Artists Who Defined Modernism in Cornwall, a curated selection of works celebrating the enduring legacy of the St Ives School. This summer selling exhibition brings together exceptional paintings, sculptures, works on paper, ceramics and prints by many of the movement’s leading figures, including Dame Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Christopher Wood, Naum Gabo, Bernard Leach and Patrick Heron, among others. St Ives: The Modern Coast will be on view at Phillips’ galleries on Berkeley Square from 9 July until 7 August 2026. The selling exhibition will be accompanied by a rare selection of important loans from The Hepworth Wakefield and The Ingram Collection, offering further insight into one of Britain’s most influential artistic movements. Catherine Bird, Associate Specialist, Private Sales, said, “Bringing the light, landscape and legacy of St Ives to London for Phillips’ Summer Exhibition is a timely opportunity to celebrate one of the most influential chapters in British Modernism. With a resurgence of interest in Modernism and figures such as Barbara Hepworth receiving significant attention, the exhibition feels especially resonant. It speaks to the enduring relevance of these artists’ practices and the evolving interests of today’s collectors. We are grateful to The Hepworth Wakefield and The Ingram Collection for their generous support and loans to the exhibition.” Located on Cornwall’s rugged Atlantic coastline, St Ives became a defining centre of twentieth-century British modernism. Drawn to the town’s extraordinary light, dramatic scenery and proximity to the sea, artists developed a distinctive visual language that united landscape, abstraction and modernist experimentation. Led by Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, a pioneering community of painters and sculptors transformed the once-remote harbour town into a celebrated artistic hub. Alongside a generation of influential artists, their work established the St Ives School as a vital chapter in the history of modern art. On loan from The Ingram Collection is Hepworth’s Sculpture with Colour and Strings, which reflects the artist’s enduring relationship with the sea and is similar to works currently on view in the Courtauld’s exhibition Hepworth in Colour. 
Barbara Hepworth Sculpture with Colour and Strings, 1939/1961 On loan from The Ingram Collection of Modern British Art | 
Barbara Hepworth Maquette for ‘Winged Figure’, 1957 Wakefield Permanent Art Collection (The Hepworth Wakefield). Purchased with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and with the assistance of the National Art Collections Fund. | 
Ben Nicholson 1971 (two squares and very green), 1971 |
| Among the highlights of the selling exhibition is Christopher Wood’s significant painting Drying Sails, Mousehole, Cornwall, 1930, a work that captures the atmosphere, light and maritime character of the Cornish coast. Also featured is Naum Gabo’s ethereal Linear Construction in Space No.1, circa 1950, an iconic sculpture that reflects the profound influence of St Ives’ natural environment on his practice. Created using Perspex and nylon monofilament, a material Gabo developed during his time in St Ives, the work embodies his fascination with organic structures, incorporating the rhythms and forms found in shells and the surrounding landscape. Naum Gabo Linear Construction in Space No.1, circa 1950 Perspex with nylon monofilament |
The exhibition also includes Bernard Leach’s Elephant Jar, highlighting the international exchange of ideas that shaped the artistic identity of St Ives. Having arrived in Cornwall in the 1920s following his time in Japan, Leach brought with him a global perspective that transformed British studio pottery and helped establish St Ives as a centre for artistic innovation. His influential approach continues through Leach Pottery today, which remains a living legacy of his pioneering vision. Bernard Leach Elephant Jar, c. 1965 | 
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Exhibition viewing: 9 July to 7 August 2026 Location: 30 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6EX Click here for more information: https://exhibitions.phillips.com/collections/school-of-st-ives |
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