Daphne McClure
14 March – 12 April 2025
Daphne McClure
Fields on Bryher – Young Seeds, 2012
mixed media on paper
25.5 x 33cm £2500
Daphne McClure
Newlyn Wash Day
acrylic on canvas
46 x 56cm
Daphne McClure
The Island
mixed media on canvas
40 x 50cm
Daphne McClure
Green and Trees
mixed media on board
30 x 40cm £2995
Daphne McClure
Rowing Boat
artists proof linoprint
28 x 40cm £2250
Daphne McClure
Post Office and Savings Bank
mixed media on board
44 x 51cm £3250
Daphne McClure
Yellow Boats, 2017
mixed media on paper
29 x 41cm £2750
Daphne McClure
Deck Gear
mixed media on board
60 x 65cm
Daphne McClure
Batik Still Life
mixed media & batik collage
84 x 59cm £4995
Daphne McClure
The Empty Harbour, 2015
mixed media on board
82 x 112cm
Daphne McClure
Two Moored Boats
mixed media on canvas
36 x 46cm
Daphne McClure
Two Boats
mixed media on board
30 x 35cm £2800
Daphne McClure
Moorland Church Exmoor, October 2010
mixed media on paper
20 x 24cm £1800
Daphne McClure
A Batik Painting, 2008
batik and mixed media on cloth
42 x 44cm £2650
Daphne McClure
Falling Leaves, painted at the Josef Albers Foundation, 2005
mixed media on board
17 x 18cm £1750
Daphne McClure
Boats Moored at High Tide, 2016
mixed media on board
26 x 35cm
Daphne McClure
Paddling
mixed media on board
26 x 21cm £1950
Daphne McClure
On the Beach
mixed media on board
26 x 36cm
Daphne McClure
Girl with Fan, 2013
pencil on paper
29 x 41cm £950
Daphne McClure
Marazion Marshes, 2013
pencil on paper
21 x 30cm £875
Daphne McClure
St Michael’s Mount, 2013
pencil on paper
21 x 30cm
Daphne McClure
Camelias
mixed media on board
37 x 38cm
Daphne McClure
Daisies
mixed media on board
41 x 26cm £2950
Daphne McClure
Hanging Out to Dry
acrylic on canvas
71 x 91cm
Daphne McClure
Flowers and the Mount
mixed media on canvas
60 x 60cm £3950
Daphne McClure
The Wood, painted at the Josef Albers Foundation, 2005
mixed media on paper
39 x 42cm £2450
Daphne McClure
Brilliant Maples
mixed media on paper
17 x 34cm £2250
Daphne McClure
Untitled III, painted at the Josef Albers Foundation, 2005
mixed media on paper
12 x 18cm
Daphne McClure
Plant and Patterned Pot
collograph on paper
50 x 34cm £1950
Daphne McClure
The Chapel, Church and Lighthouse
mixed media on board
82 x 115cm
Daphne McClure
Untitled I
mixed media on board
28 x 43cm £2995
Daphne McClure
Anenomes
acrylic on paper
29 x 29cm £2350
Daphne McClure
A Beautiful Day, painted at the Josef Albers Foundation, 2005
mixed media on paper
14 x 37cm £2250
Daphne McClure
A Splash of Colour, painted at the Josef Albers Foundation, 2005
ink on paper
36 x 51cm £2650
Daphne McClure
Untitled II
mixed media on canvas
50 x 60cm £3600
Daphne McClure
Lighthouse, Island and Boats
mixed media on paper
36 x 56cm £2650
DAPHNE McCLURE | A CELEBRATION OF HER LIFE AND WORK | 14 MARCH – 12 APRIL 2025
“There is nothing timid about my mother. In her art and in life, there is a boldness and sense of fun. She takes risks in painting that allow the unexpected to happen, always working with spontaneity and directness, and an ambition to create something ‘a bit different’. The results are paintings full of life, expressive marks and handling of paint; paintings that are modern in their simplicity and the strong, flat abstracted shapes and perspective; paintings with a bold and balanced use of colour and a sure sense of design; paintings that are endlessly inventive, where her love of the process of creating an image shines through; vibrant paintings of freshness, humour and a sense of place and above all else, paintings that are joyfully expressive of her love for Cornwall.” Emma McClure, an extract from the foreword to ‘Daphne McClure – A Cornish Perspective’ 2020
Daphne McClure was born in Helston, Cornwall, in 1927. She studied at Redruth Art School (1946 – 48) and attended Hornsey College of Art (1948 – 51) and Central St Martins (1951).
McClure worked at the Royal Opera House in London from 1952 – 56 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. Many techniques that she learned during this time informed her later painting career, including the batik method and it was whilst she was working at Covent Garden that her paintings were first exhibited at the Penwith Gallery in St. Ives alongside luminaries of the St. Ives School such as Hepworth and Nicholson (exhibiting in her middle name of Quintrell).
She returned home to Cornwall in 1976 and began to paint full time from her studio in Porthleven.
“It was a joy to be living in Penare House, Porthleven, overlooking the harbour and vast expanse of sea. After the hot parched summer, experiencing very high winds and the sea crashing against the pier 40 feet high was thrilling.”
When Tate Gallery, St Ives opened in 1993, they commissioned McClure to design a piece of work which was subsequently reproduced on Tate mugs, tote bags and scarves for sale in the Tate shop.
In 2005 McClure was invited to Connecticut, USA, for an artist’s residency at the prestigious Josef and Anni Albers Foundation after the Director of the
Foundation spotted one of her paintings hanging in the window of Archeus Gallery in London.
“I accepted this amazing opportunity to go to America and took my daughter Emma with me, who had become by this time an artist in her own right. We travelled across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary arriving in New York and the studios were wonderful, set in 75 acres of woodland and lakes. The Foundation had a superb library and Alber’s painting Homage to the Square looked beautiful in the gallery and I became aware of his theories on basic design and balance.”
McClure’s solo exhibitions included ‘A Life in Art’ at Cornwall Contemporary in 2011 where every piece of work in the exhibition was sold. Her second solo exhibition at Cornwall Contemporary followed in 2012 ‘Still Life and Eclectic Passion’ and was also a sell-out show. For the following five years, McClure’s works were exhibited at galleries throughout England and when her paintings came up at auction, bidding was intense, with many sale prices exceeding gallery wall prices, proving that the appetite for her work amongst collectors was increasing.
An exhibition which was very close to her heart, was a special ‘Mother and Daughter’ two-person exhibition at Cornwall Contemporary in April 2017. It was the first time in over ten years that Daphne had exhibited with her daughter Emma and the joint show was highly anticipated amongst their many collectors and lovers of their work.
In 2020, a book was published about Daphne McClure’s life and work. Titled ‘Daphne McClure – A Cornish Perspective’, written by Sarah Brittain-Mansbridge with a foreword by Emma McClure and published by Sansom & Company. The book can be purchased online from Cornwall Contemporary’s website here and purchased in the gallery and other bookshops.
Daphne McClure passed away in 2023 at the age of 96, leaving behind a lasting legacy which is interwoven with those fellow artists whose inspiration looked to everyday life in Cornwall from Lanyon to Nicholson and many other notable St Ives painters. 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. Daphne McClure’s work is now widely recognised and has become extremely desirable and found in many private collections around the world.
I’m delighted that this very special exhibition which celebrates Daphne McClure’s remarkable contributions to the arts in Cornwall , includes some previously unseen paintings and drawings alongside other work from various stages throughout her career. This collection of Daphne’s work can be seen on the ground floor gallery at Cornwall Contemporary and it feels particularly special that her daughter Emma McClure will again be exhibiting alongside her mother, with Emma’s paintings on display on our second floor gallery, which you can view here.
Sarah Brittain-Mansbridge
Director, Cornwall Contemporary
order the exhibition catalogue here
