Graeme Chisholm on Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
Graeme leads on policy and learning in a global health charity, and one of his other identities as an artist allows him to exercise both sides of his brain with perhaps insight, holistic thought and compassion binding the two.
By Paintings in Hospitals
Graeme Chisholm
Wilhemina described her approach at the time as wanting to “express the joy and importance of colour, texture, energy and vibrancy, with an awareness of space and construction. A celebration of life – taking risks so creating the unexpected."
Time Series: Vision in Time II (1999) by Wilhelmina Barns-GrahamPaintings in Hospitals
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham - Vision in Time II
I have chosen this work for what Wilhelmina achieved, creating a bold body of work as a women during a time of gender inequality, also because I first got to know her work by chance in a commercial gallery close to where I work.
My Role in Healthcare
My role, leading on policy and learning in a global health charity, and one of my other identities as an artist allows me to exercise both sides of my brain with perhaps insight, holistic thought and compassion binding the two.
Both Sides of the Brain
The work, a screen print called Vision in Time II, is a late piece created when she was 88. What I see is geometry (left side of the brain – analytic) and the beatific randomness of time (right-hand side of the brain – creative). Vision is mentioned in the title which completes my oneness with this work.
A Celebration of Life
Wilhemina described her approach at the time as wanting to “express the joy and importance of colour, texture, energy and vibrancy, with an awareness of space and construction. A celebration of life – taking risks so creating the unexpected." Quite.
I’d originally entered the gallery to ask whether they’d be interested in exhibiting my abstract oil paintings (no) but was then drawn into Wilhemina’s world of colour and abstraction which hovers on the borders of representation.
Orange and Lemon Playing Games II (1999) by Wilhelmina Barns-GrahamPaintings in Hospitals
Orange and Lemon Playing Games II
I have chosen this work for the artists name and her gender – Wilhemina is my maternal grandmother’s name; for where she came from – Fife, again like my grandmother; where she flourished – the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall which is the closest England gets to of the Scottish West Coast.
It’s a late work, created when the artist was in her 80’s.
On first encountering this work, I see an egg, rather than a lemon. And it’s a large one. I also see the stylised representation of a person taken from above, perhaps about to sit down and eat their breakfast.
Looking Again
And then I look again, this time, I’m looking for the orange. It’s only then that I realise that that refers to the background. Now my brain’s racing towards complexity, colour theory, interaction of colour.
Playing Games
But finally, inspired perhaps by my own daughter, I decide to relax and to simply enjoy its stark beauty and simplicity. After all, the work is about playing games.
The St Ives Artist Group
Wilhelmina Barns Graham was one of several newcomers to the art scene in Cornwall, including Peter Lanyon, Patrick Heron, Terry Frost and the Nicholsons. These formed the new school of abstract artists for which St Ives was to become famous. Ben Nicholson married Barbara Hepworth and they moved to the area in 1939, Rachel Nicholson is their daughter.
Harbour with Still Life (St Ives) (1999) by Rachel NicholsonPaintings in Hospitals
Harbour with Still Life (St Ives) by Rachel Nicholson
Rachel Nicholson was born in 1934, one of triplets, to the artists Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth. The family moved from Hampstead to St Ives, Cornwall in 1939. Rachel had no formal training and started painting in her early 40s after her youngest child started school. She married the Alzheimer’s researcher Dr Michael Kidd.
'My Paintings are a way of trying to bring a sense of peace, and the hope that this will be extended to the viewer' - Rachel Nicholson
