Bryan Pearce
St Ives Harbour presents Bryan Pearce’s most recognised
subject matter, demonstrating the appreciation he had for the area throughout
his whole life. Suffering from Phenylketonuria (a condition which causes
learning difficulties) his mother encouraged Pearce to try his hand at art, and
from 1953 he began to walk around the small coastal town to draw, moving to oils
in 1957. Though Pearce never moved from the
local area. He worked carefully and methodically, creating around just twelve paintings
a year alongside drawings and etchings.
clean line and bright blocks of colour and the present work is wholly typical of
his naïve style in pen and ink, capturing the harbour with playful character
and pure simplicity of form. The sheet is double-sided and shows an equally archetypal lighthouse sketch on the reverse.
While often likened to Alfred Wallis (who
lived on the same street), Pearce did not take influence from wider artists; his
works are simply imaginative and joyful representations of a place he held dear,
and a way for the artist to visually communicate with others.
Provenance
Private collection, Devon.Stamford Fine Art, Peterborough.