Daphne McClure
Ken Howard OBE, RA: Daphne and I studied at Hornsey School of Art albeit at different times but under the same tutors including Alan Braund who helped drag the School kicking and shouting into the 20th century. Since her return to Cornwall in the mid seventies, Daphne has fine-tuned her language. Whether dealing with boats, mines, fields or currently jugs, she is about revelation; the key element in the visual arts. Kenneth Clark wrote “Above all else art should be life-enhancing” and Daphne’s installations and series of paintings fulfil this criterion. I have been fortunate enough to live with a painting by Daphne McClure and my life is the richer for it.
Daphne McClure was born in Helston, Cornwall, in 1930. She attended the Hornsey College of Art and the Central School of Art before working at the Royal Opera House in 1976. After a brief spell there she returned home to Cornwall where she now paints full time from her studio. In 1995 she was commissioned by the Tate Gallery in St Ives, to design a piece of work to exhibit for its first exhibition. Her work is now widely recognised and has become extremely desirable and found in many private collections worldwide. In 2005 she was invited to Connecticut, USA, for an artist’s residency at the Josef Albers Foundation. Daphne’s paintings display an expressive handling of the subject and its emotional intensity. Her work draws on the rich artistic heritage of Cornwall whilst still maintaining a contemporary and painterly feel. Her current home is in Penzance and provides the inspiration behind her latest and in many ways her most quintessential work.
