Movement through a Landscape, George Dannatt (1915-2009) 1997

Movement through a Landscape

Pencil on card, initialled and dated. Signed, titled and dated verso.

Image size: 12.4 × 18.7 cm

George Dannatt was a British abstract artist closely associated with the St Ives movement and the development of post-war British abstraction. Unusually, he came to painting through several other careers. He trained as a chartered surveyor in his father's practice and later worked as a music critic, experiences that informed the strong sense of structure, rhythm and balance that would become characteristic of his work.

A pivotal moment came in 1955 when his brother, the architect Trevor Dannatt, introduced him to the painter Adrian Heath. Through Heath, Dannatt became part of an influential circle of artists that included Patrick Heron, Terry Frost, John Wells, Denis Mitchell and Alexander Mackenzie. He would go on to become a member of both the Penwith Society and the Newlyn Society, establishing himself as an important figure within the St Ives artistic community.

Drawing inspiration from both landscape and abstraction, Dannatt developed a visual language built around carefully considered relationships between line, form and space. His background in surveying is often reflected in the precision of his compositions, while his lifelong interest in music can be sensed in the rhythm and movement of his work.

Movement through a Landscape demonstrates this approach beautifully. Executed in pencil on card, the drawing reduces the landscape to a series of economical marks and subtle structures. Despite its modest scale, the work possesses a quiet confidence and clarity, revealing Dannatt's ability to capture both movement and atmosphere through the simplest of means.

Alongside his own artistic practice, Dannatt and his wife Ann assembled one of the most important private collections of St Ives and post-war British art. Built through friendships with many of the leading artists of the period, the collection was later gifted to Pallant House Gallery, where it remains an important record of twentieth-century British abstraction.

Condition: In very good condition. Presented in its original silver frame. There is a small scratch to the lower left-hand side of the frame.