Patrick Heron

Patrick Heron (1920-1999)

Patrick Heron an English painter, writer and designer based in St Ives, Cornwall. Heron's influences were wide and varied, during his teenage years he designed for his fathers company Cresta Silks. 1944-5 he was an assistant at the Bernard Leach pottery. In the post war years Heron was greatly interested in and influenced by the work of French artists such as Mattise and Bonnard, this can be seen in the flat linear style of his still life works. In the 1950's Heron was closely identified with the St Ives group of painters along with Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth. Mid 1950's Heron began to paint in an abstract style with a bold use of colour, he is often regarded as one of the earliest champions of abstract expressionism in the UK and one of the foremost critics and writers on modern art.