Sandra Blow, Space and Matter

Sandra Blow, Space and Matter

Essay by Mel Gooding 

This publication, which accompanies an important exhibition at Tate St Ives, looks at several key moments in Sandra Blow's work and illustrates a selection of paintings from those periods. In his thoughtful and eloquent essay, Mel Gooding examines the elements within Blow's paintings to establish the artist's profound understanding of the past fifty years.

Sandra Blow has played a leading role in the development of post-war abstract art in Britain. She was a regular visitor to Cornwall and St Ives, and from 1957 to 1958, she lived in Tregerthen, near Zennor, and was in contact with the second generation of St Ives artists, such as Patrick Heron, Roger Hilton, Terry Frost, and Bryan Wynter. St Ives has continued to provide a source of inspiration for Blow since she finally relocated from London in 1994 and established her studio complex in St Ives.

We have acquired this book from the estate of Mollie and Graham Dark.

Mollie & Graham met in Wimbledon in 1978. He, a Cornishman, born in Gulval in 1930, acquired an early appreciation of art visiting Newlyn Gallery with his family. In his early career Graham worked in London writing for the Daily Express and he was responsible for one of the first Arts columns in a tabloid paper, but in 1960 he opened an antique shop in Chelsea.

Inspired by trips to Italy, he displayed early furniture and antiquities in an uncluttered modern setting, a technique he later utilised in his own home. The Darks moved back to Cornwall in 1980 and at their home in Flushing, and later Truro, curated an impressive body of art and antiquities with a particular focus on Cornish artists such as Paul Feiler and Terry Frost, who both became close friends.

The paintings were displayed alongside mid-century modern designer furniture by Eames, Bertoia and Magistretti, and arrangements of antiquities, thought of as 'ensembles' by Graham. Warm, charming, and generous hosts, they entertained their artistic circle of friends in their exquisitely arranged home, and it is a privilege for us to handle their beautiful possessions today.

Graham Dark 1930-2015, Mollie Dark 1928-2024