Patrick Heron

by Mel Gooding

Patrick Heron (1920-99) was one of the leading British artists of his generation, and an important figure in the development of post-war abstract art. Working and living in Cornwall for most of his creative life, he was closely associated with the St Ives artists including Ben Nicholson, William Scott and Roger Hilton. Above all, Heron was obsessed by colour and light, and in a long succession of beautiful paintings he pursued his vision of an art that would reclaim as its true subject 'the reality of the eye'. This book is the first to examine in detail the progress of Heron's career and to set it within the context of his life and times. It is established as the leading monograph, featuring a sensitive and encompassing approach to the painter's thoughts and feelings, as well as simply the work itself.

Genres: Art

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Mel^Gooding
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Mel Gooding (b. Ipswich, Suffolk, UK 1941 - d. London 2021) studied English at the University of Sussex (1962-66). He taught at at Furzedown College of Education, in Streatham, West London College, Wandle primary school, in Earlsfield, Rachel McMillan College of Education, in Deptford, and the Sidney Webb College (incorporated into the Polytechnic of Central London) before becoming a freelance writer in the 1980s. He wrote catalogues of artists, including one on Frank Bowling (2011) that was expanded in 2021 and contributed to William Furlong’s Audio Arts ((1973-2007), a magazine produced on cassette. He collaborated with the artist Bruce Mclean (1944) and they published, under Knife Edge Press, the artists' books featuring Mclean's screenprints: Dreamwork (1985), Ladder (1986), A Scone Off a Plate (1990) and Knife Edge Academy: The Prospectus (1992), the first two of which were acquired by the Contemporary Art Society and presented to Southampton City Art Gallery and Chelmsford Museum. In 2013 Knife Edge Press was given a retrospective exhibition at the Cooper Gallery, Dundee. Mel was also senior research fellow at Edinburgh College of Art (1998-2005), and in 2006 was made a professor at Wimbledon College of Art. He also organised exhibitions such as FE McWilliam, Tate Gallery (1989), Ceri Richards: Themes and Variations, National Museum of Wales and touring (2002-03), and Gillian Ayres: Select Retrospective, the Royal West of England Academy (2004).