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Daphne McClure

A Batik Painting, 2008

A Batik Painting, 2008

batik and mixed media on cloth
42 x 44cm
£2650
Anenomes

Anenomes

acrylic on paper
29 x 29cm
£2350
Anenomes
Sold

Anenomes

mixed media on paper
26 x 29cm
Batik Still Life

Batik Still Life

mixed media & batik collage
84 x 59cm
£4995
Beach Rules
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Beach Rules

acrylic on canvas
50 x 50cm
Bird
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Bird

mixed media on board
20 x 30cm
Boat in Newlyn Harbour
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Boat in Newlyn Harbour

mixed media on canvas
26 x 36cm
Boat on the Slipway
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Boat on the Slipway

acrylic on canvas
62 x 92cm
Boats and Buoys
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Boats and Buoys

mixed media on canvas
100 x 100cm
Boats Moored at High Tide, 2016
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Boats Moored at High Tide, 2016

mixed media on board
26 x 35cm
Brilliant Maples

Brilliant Maples

mixed media on paper
17 x 34cm
£2250
Camelias
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Camelias

mixed media on board
37 x 38cm
China Clay Hills
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China Clay Hills

mixed media on board
28 x 36cm
Clocktower and Pier
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Clocktower and Pier

mixed media on board
40 x 50cm
Daisies

Daisies

mixed media on board
41 x 26cm
£2950
Deck Gear
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Deck Gear

mixed media on board
60 x 65cm
Fields
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Fields

mixed media on canvas
48 x 117cm
Fields on Bryher – Young Seeds, 2012

Fields on Bryher – Young Seeds, 2012

mixed media on paper
25.5 x 33cm
£2500
Fishing Boats and Trees
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Fishing Boats and Trees

acrylic on canvas
51 x 62cm
Fishing Boats from Newlyn Harbour
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Fishing Boats from Newlyn Harbour

mixed media on canvas
46 x 61cm
Fishing Boats Sailing By
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Fishing Boats Sailing By

mixed media on canvas
61 x 46cm
Flowers and the Mount

Flowers and the Mount

mixed media on canvas
60 x 60cm
£3950
Free Rangers
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Free Rangers

mixed media on canvas
40 x 30cm
Girl with Fan, 2013

Girl with Fan, 2013

pencil on paper
29 x 41cm
£950
Green and Trees

Green and Trees

mixed media on board
30 x 40cm
£2995
Grey Day in Porthleven
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Grey Day in Porthleven

mixed media on canvas
40 x 51cm
Hanging Out to Dry
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Hanging Out to Dry

acrylic on canvas
71 x 91cm
Harbour Light, Newlyn
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Harbour Light, Newlyn

mixed media on paper
26 x 36cm
Hayle Estuary
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Hayle Estuary

mixed media on paper
56 x 76cm
Lighthouse, Island and Boats

Lighthouse, Island and Boats

mixed media on paper
36 x 56cm
£2650
Marazion Marshes, 2013

Marazion Marshes, 2013

pencil on paper
21 x 30cm
£875
Moorland Church Exmoor, October 2010

Moorland Church Exmoor, October 2010

mixed media on paper
20 x 24cm
£1800
Newlyn
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Newlyn

acrylic
46 x 56cm
Newlyn Wash Day
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Newlyn Wash Day

acrylic on canvas
46 x 56cm
Newlyn Watchtower
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Newlyn Watchtower

mixed media on canvas
36 x 26cm
On the Beach
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On the Beach

mixed media on board
26 x 36cm
On the Way to St Ives
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On the Way to St Ives

mixed media on canvas
45 x 61cm
Open Window
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Open Window

mixed media on canvas
46 x 61cm
Paddling

Paddling

mixed media on board
26 x 21cm
£1950
Plant and Patterned Pot

Plant and Patterned Pot

collograph on paper
50 x 34cm
£1950
Poppies in Newlyn
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Poppies in Newlyn

mixed media on canvas
41 x 56cm
Porthleven
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Porthleven

mixed media on paper
48 x 74cm
Porthleven
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Porthleven

mixed media collage on board
48 x 62cm
Porthmeor Beach V
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Porthmeor Beach V

acrylic on canvas
38 x 38cm
Post Office and Savings Bank

Post Office and Savings Bank

mixed media on board
44 x 51cm
£3250
Rowing Boat

Rowing Boat

artists proof linoprint
28 x 40cm
£2250
St Michael’s Mount, 2013
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St Michael’s Mount, 2013

pencil on paper
21 x 30cm
Summer Flowers
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Summer Flowers

acrylic on canvas
40 x 30cm
The Albers Foundation
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The Albers Foundation

mixed media on canvas
52 x 76cm
The Chapel, Church and Lighthouse
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The Chapel, Church and Lighthouse

mixed media on board
82 x 115cm
The Empty Harbour, 2015
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The Empty Harbour, 2015

mixed media on board
82 x 112cm
The Island
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The Island

mixed media on canvas
40 x 50cm
The Lugger
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The Lugger

mixed media on board
28 x 36cm
The Old Harbour
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The Old Harbour

mixed media on canvas
31 x 41cm
The Roofs
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The Roofs

mixed media on canvas
62 x 77cm
The Wood, painted at the Josef Albers Foundation, 2005

The Wood, painted at the Josef Albers Foundation, 2005

mixed media on paper
39 x 42cm
£2450
Through the Trees
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Through the Trees

mixed media on canvas
50 x 60cm
Trees at the Albers Foundation
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Trees at the Albers Foundation

acrylic on board
20 x 25cm
Tregonning Hill
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Tregonning Hill

acrylic on canvas
82 x 82cm
Two Boats

Two Boats

mixed media on board
30 x 35cm
£2800
Two Boats
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Two Boats

artist proof linoprint
21 x 30cm
Two Boats and Fish Crates
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Two Boats and Fish Crates

mixed media on board
26 x 30cm
Two Moored Boats
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Two Moored Boats

mixed media on canvas
36 x 46cm
Untitled I

Untitled I

mixed media on board
28 x 43cm
£2995
Untitled II

Untitled II

mixed media on canvas
50 x 60cm
£3600
Yellow Boats, 2017

Yellow Boats, 2017

mixed media on paper
29 x 41cm
£2750
Yellow Tulips
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Yellow Tulips

mixed media on canvas
41 x 51cm

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’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 homes in Porthleven and later in Penzance provided the inspiration behind her most quintessential work.

Daphne McClure was born in Helston, Cornwall, in 1927. She attended the Hornsey College of Art and the Central School of Art before working at the Royal Opera House from 1952 – 1956 where she worked on costumes for designers including John Piper on The Magic Flute and Barbara Hepworth on Midsummer Marriage. She also worked on a new production of Stravinsky’s Firebird in which Margot Fonteyn danced. She returned home to Cornwall after working at The Royal Opera House and began to paint 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. In 2005 she was invited to Connecticut, USA, for an artist’s residency at the Josef Albers Foundation.

Daphne McClure passed away in 2023 at the age of 96, leaving behind her a lasting legacy which is interwoven with those fellow artists whose inspiration looked to everyday life in Cornwall from Lanyon to Nicholson amd many other St Ives luminaries. The paintings she left behind draw on that rich artistic heritage of Cornwall which so inspired her throughout her life and stand testament to her creativity, her passion for painting and her deep love of Cornwall.

Cornwall Contemporary will hold a solo exhibition of her work in 2025.

Her work is widely recognised and has become extremely desirable and found in many private collections worldwide.

In 2020, a book was published about Daphne McClure’s life and work.

Titled ‘Daphne McClure – A Cornish Perspective’, written by Sarah Brittain-Mansbridge and published by Sansom & Company, you can order the book here

Cornwall Contemporary

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