Group Exhibtions
From Abstract Expressionism to Artists’ Studios, Barns-Graham’s work has been included in exhibitions on a wide variety of themes.
A select list of group exhibitions featuring works by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham arranged by exhibition theme.
St Ives & Cornwall
Initially positioning herself as a painter of Cornish landscapes (c. 1947), Barns-Graham regularly showed work inspired by St Ives and Cornwall and as part of group exhibitions with artists also working in the vicinity of the Cornish town. Includes the Crypt exhibitions of the late 1940s to Tate’s seminal St Ives: 1939-64, twenty-five years of painting, sculpture and pottery exhibition in 1985.
1944
Saint Ives Society of Artists, Summer Collection, 1944
1945
Saint Ives Society of Artists, Summer Collection, New Gallery Norway Square, 1945
1947
Saint Ives Society of Artists (3), Spring Collection, Summer Collection & Autumn Collection exhibitions, New Gallery Norway Square, St Ives, 1947
Paintings, Drawings Sculpture & Specimens of Printing, Spring & Summer No.1, Downing Bookshop, April 1947
Cornwall: Paintings, Drawings and Sculptures: Sven Berlin, Peter Lanyon, W. Barns Graham, John Wells: Recent Printings Guido Morris. [Crypt Group], Crypt of the New Gallery, St Ives, August 1948
1948
Saint Ives Society of Artists (2), Spring Collection & Summer Collection exhibitions, New Gallery Norway Square, St Ives, 1948
Fred Uhlman. Lyons Wilson. Edward Eker. W. Barns-Graham. Robin Ironside. Peter Grimm., Redfern Gallery, London, 4 – 22 May 1948
Crypt Exhibition of Drawings, Paintings and Sculpture, and fine Printing from the Latin Press, Crypt of the New Gallery, St Ives, opened 31 July 1948
1949
Saint Ives Society of Artists, Winter Collection, New Gallery Norway Square, St Ives, January 1949
Penwith Society of Arts in Cornwall, First Exhibition, 18 Fore Street, St Ives, opened18 June 1949. Barns-Graham shows work in this and all subsequent exhibitions (spring, summer, autumn and sometimes winter) by Penwith members until her death.
1951
Fifteen Artists & Craftsmen from Around St Ives, Heal’s Mansard Gallery, London, 11 January – 10 February 1951
1953
West Country Landscape, Arts Council (South Western Region)
1960
Painters from Cornwall 1960, City Art Gallery, Plymouth, 1960
1965
Painters from West Penwith, St Ives, within 41st Annual Exhibition of the Scottish Society of Women Artists (SSWA), Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, November 1965
1968
An exhibition of works by member of the Penwith Society of Arts (2), Austin Reed Gallery, Regent Street, London, September 1968 and June 1971
1969
Inaugeral exhibition, Marjorie Parr Gallery, Wills Lane, St Ives, April 1969
St Ives Group, Festival Gallery, Bath, June 1969
1977
Cornwall 1945 – 1955, New Art Centre, London, 9 November – 3 December 1977
1981
Kunst Aus Cornwall (Newlyn Society of Artists), Galerie Artica, Cuxhaven, Germany, in co-operation with Newlyn Orion Gallery, October 1981
1982
The Sea, St Ives and the Seeing Eye, St Ives Festival ’82 Exhibition, Penwith Gallery
1985
St Ives: 1939-64, twenty-five years of painting, sculpture and pottery, Tate Gallery, London, February 1985
Cornwall 1925-1975, Michael Parkin Fine Art, Motcomb Street, London, 1985
St Ives in Harlow, John Graham Fine Arts, Stone Cross, Harlow, 1985
1989
40 Years at the Penwith, Beaux Arts, Bath Festival, 1989
1991
St Ives, Austin Desmond Fine Art, London, 1991
1992
Artists from Cornwall, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 1992
1995
Cornwall: An exhibition of nine artists who have lived or worked in Cornwall, New Academy Gallery, Windmill Street, London, February 1995
Porthmeor Beach: A Century of Images, Tate St Ives, April 1995
100 Years Context & Continuity, Newlyn Art Gallery, 1995
A Cornish Midsummer, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 1995
1998
Small Pictures by W. Barns-Graham, Terry Frost, Alex Mackenzie, Breon O’Casey, Karl Weschke, Rainyday Gallery, Penzance, May 1998
1999
St Ives & British Modernism, Jonathan Clark Gallery, London, October 1998
2001
Spring Exhibition, Newlyn Art Gallery, 2001
St Ives Past & Present: Paintings and Prints, New Academy Gallery, London, July 2001
2008
St Ives Exhibition (2), Belgrave Gallery, St Ives, 2008 and 2010
St Ives Moderns, Belgrave Gallery, St Ives, October 2008
2010
Artists of St Ives and the South West, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, 2010
Original Prints by St Ives Artists, New Craftsmen Gallery, St Ives, 2010
2019
Creative Tensions: The Penwith Society of Arts 1949-1960, Penlee House Gallery, 14 September – 16 November 2019
2020
St Ives: Movements in Art and Life, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 14 March – 19 September 2020
2021
St Ives: Connecting Circles, Pallant House Gallery, 28 September – 31 October 2021
2022
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and Jonathan Michael Ray, Tate St Ives, 28 May – 2 October 2022
Living the Landscape, Museum Belvédère, Heerenveen, Netherlands, 5 June – 28 September 2022
Looking East: St Ives Artists and Buddhism, 3812 Gallery, Hong Kong and London, 12 July – 3 September 2022
Exhibiting Societies and Annual Exhibitions
Barns-Graham regularly entered her work to members exhibitions and exhibiting societies, such as the Royal Scottish Academy. As a founding member of the Penwith Society of Arts, she showed her work in every members’ exhibition (Spring, Summer and Autumn) from its inaugural in 1949 until her death in 2004.
1935
Society of Scottish Artists, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, October 1935
1938
Royal Scottish Academy 112th Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, April 1938
Annual Exhibition of Modern Art, Fine Art Society, Edinburgh, May 1938
Society of Scottish Artists 45th Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, November 1938
1941
Royal Scottish Academy 115th Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, April 1941
1943
Royal Scottish Academy 117th Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, April 1943
Society of Scottish Artists 49th Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, 1943
1944
Royal Scottish Academy 118th Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, April 1944
1952
Leeds Art Collections Fund members exhibition, June 1952
Women’s International Art Club (WIAC), Annual Exhibition, Royal Society of British Artists Gallery, London, 1952
1953
International Watercolour exhibition (17th Biennial), Brooklyn Museum, New York
1954
British Watercolours 1914-1953, Empire Art Loan Exhibitions Society, tour to Australia, 1954
1955
Sixty-second Spring Exhibition, Bradford City Art Gallery, 1955
1956
Sixty-third Spring Exhibition, Bradford City Art Gallery, 1956
1957
Yorkshire Artists’ Exhibition, Leeds City Art Gallery, January 1957
1959
The John Moores Liverpool Exhibition, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, November 1959
1961
21st International Watercolour Biennial: Germany, Great Britain, United States, Brooklyn Museum, New York
1966
Women’s International Art Club (WIAC), Annual Exhibition, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, September 1966
1980
Contemporary Art Society Exhibition, Sotheby’s Edinburgh Festival Exhibition, 1980
1984
Scottish Society of Women Artists, 60th Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh
1997
The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW), 117th Annual, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, 1997
1998
Royal Academy, Summer Exhibition, London, 1998
The Scottish Arts Club, Festival Exhibition, Edinburgh 1998
Royal Scottish Academy, shows annually from 1998, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh
2000
The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW), 120th Annual, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, January 2000
2001
The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW), 121st Annual, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, January 2001
2002
Royal Academy, Summer Exhibition, London, 2002
2009
Society of Scottish Artists, 112th Annual Exhibition, Vision Building, Dundee, 2009
2022
Society of Scottish Artists, 130th Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, 17 December 2022 – 10 January 2023
2023
Royal Scottish Academy, RSA Barns-Graham Travel Award, Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, 14 January – 1 March 2023
Modern & Contemporary Art
Barns-Graham’s work has been included in many exhibitions of 20th and 21st century art, particularly exhibitions focusing on Abstract, British and Scottish art from the period.
1945
Watercolours and Drawings by Living Scottish Artists, Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, April 1945
1949
Summer Exhibition, Redfern Gallery, London, June 1949
1950
1950 Aspects of British Art, Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), Dover Street Galleries, London, 13 December 1950 – 12 January 1951
1951
Abstract Artists of Three Nations [Danish, British & American], Riverside Museum, New York, 12 March – 4 April 1951
Abstract Paintings, Sculptures, Mobiles, Artists International Association (AIA), London, May 1951
Artists of Fame & Promise, Leicester Galleries, London, Summer 1951
Summer Exhibition, Redfern Gallery, London, 28 June – 25 August 1951
British Abstract Art, Gimpel Fils, Molton Street, London, August 1951
Premiere Biennale de Peinture de France (Exposition Internationale), Menton, August 1951
1952
Artistes Anglais Contemporains, Musée Municipal, Macon, 10 May – 2 July 1952
The Mirror and the Square: An Exhibition of Art ranging from Realism to Abstraction, AIA, New Burlington Galleries, London, December 1952
1953
Artists of Fame & Promise: Part Two, Leicester Galleries, London, 1953
1954
Parallels in Modern Painting, Roland, Browse & Delbanco, London, July 1954
British Painting and Sculpture 1954, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 1954
1955
Aspects of Contemporary Scottish Painting, South London Art Gallery and tour, March 1955
Seven Scottish Artists (working in London and the South of England), Scottish Committee of the Arts Council of Great Britain, their Edinburgh Gallery and tour, 1955
1957
Modern Art in Yorkshire, Wakefield City Art Gallery, October 1957
1958
First House Exhibition: drawings, paintings and sculpture of the 20th century, Waddington Galleries, London, April 1958
Colour, Form & Line, Waddington Galleries, London, July 1958
1960
Artists from Waddington Galleries, Nottingham University Gallery, May 1960.
1961
Contemporary Scottish Artists, Scottish Committee of the Arts Council, Toronto, Canada, October 1961
Watercolours and Drawings by Contemporary Scottish Artists: from the Collection of the Scottish Committee of the Arts Council, touring exhibition, 1961
British Watercolours [13 Brittiska Konstnarer], Waddington Galleries, tour to Stockholm, Sweden, 1961
1962
British Art Today, San Francisco Museum of Art, and tour, 1962
1963
Summer Exhibition, Waddington Galleries, London, 1963
1966
British Painting 40-49: From the Collection of the Arts Council, Arts Council, 1966
An Exhibition of Paintings by Roger Hilton, W. Barns-Graham, Breon O’Casey, Kate Nicholson, Jeffrey Harris, Peterloo Gallery, Manchester, October 1966
1970
Contemporary Scottish Painting (bought by the Scottish Arts Council over the past four years), Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, October 1970
Helen Sutherland Collection, Hayward Gallery, London, and Arts Council tour, December 1970 – May 1971
1977
British Art of the 60s, Tate Gallery, London, 1977
1978
Scottish Paintings and Watercolours, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, July 1978
Painters in Parallel, Scottish Arts Council Festival Exhibition, Edinburgh College of Art, August 1978
The Modern Spirit in Scottish Painting, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 1978
1981
Contemporary Art From Scotland, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh; British tour by the Scottish Arts Council, 1981-1983
1982
Scottish Artists (Festival Exhibition), The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, August 1982
1986
Forty Years of Modern Art 1945-1985, Tate Gallery, London, February 1986
1988
Some of the Moderns (2), Belgrave Gallery, London, 1988 and 1990
Freeing the Spirit, Contemporary Scottish Abstraction, Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews, and tour, 1988-1989
1989
Post-War British Abstract Art, Austin Desmond Fine Art, London, 1989
20th Century Scottish Painting, The Scottish Gallery, London, 1989
Scottish Art Since 1900, The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh and Barbican Art Gallery, London, 1989-1990
1990
Scottish Art 1900-1990, The Scottish Gallery, London, 1990
Festival of Fifty-One, Arts Council Collection, touring exhibition, 1990
Three Generations of Scottish Painters, Beaux Arts, Bath Festival, 1990
Scottish Drawing, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 1990
1992
New Beginnings, Postwar British Art from the Collection of Ken Powell, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, November 1992
Scottish Abstraction, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 1992
1994
British Abstract Art Part One: Painting, Flowers East, London, September 1994
Showing regularly in group shows at Art First, London from 1994
1997
The Fifties: Art from the British Council Collection, British Council, touring exh., Cyprus, Ireland, Spain and Netherlands: Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre, 28 May – 31 July 1997; Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, 5 July – 1 August 1998; Fondacion Barrie De La Maza, La Coruna, 2 – 29 March 1999; Recinto Ciudadela, Pamplona, 5 – 29 April 1999; Cobra Museum, Amstelveen, 27 May 1999 – 1 August 2000; Palacio De Abrantes, Salamanca, 23 August – 30 September 1999; Centre Cultural De La Caixa De Terrassa, Barcelona, 20 October – 30 November 1999; Sala Pescaderia Ayunamiento De Jerez, Jerez, 15 December 1999 – 9 January 2000
The Impact of Abstraction, Tate St Ives, 1997
1999
Liberation and Tradition: Scottish Art 1963-1975, Aberdeen Art Gallery, June 1999, The McManus Galleries, Dundee, August 1999
2001
New Work from Scotland, Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames, 2001
2008
British Abstract Art 1950-1985, Portland Gallery, London, 2008
Energy in Abstraction: Wilhelmina Barns-Graham/Sandra Blow, Art First, London, April 2008
Modern and Contemporary Paintings (2), Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames, 2008 and 2009
2010
Edge of Abstraction, Mascalls Gallery, Paddock Wood, Kent, 2010
Crosscurrents in Modern British Art: Part I, Innovation – English Modernism, The Fine Art Society, London, September 2010
2021
The Expressive Mark, Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, 17 November 2021 – 3 April 2022
Rhythm and Geometry: Constructivist art in Britain since 1951, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, touring exh., UK: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich, 2 October 2021 – 30 January 2022; Djanogly Gallery, Lakeside Arts, Nottingham, 7 April – 23 July 2023
2023
Parallel Lives: Eight Women Artists, St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery, Lymington, 16 September 2023 – 13 January 2024
Thematic
Barns-Graham’s work has been included in exhibitions on a wide variety of themes from lighthouses in art to The Lindisfarne Gospels.
1983
Small is Beautiful, Angela Flowers Gallery, Tottenham Mews, London, December 1983
1984
Homage to Herbert Read, Canterbury College of Art, University of Kent at Canterbury, October 1984
1987
The Experience of Landscape: paintings, drawings and photographs from the Arts Council of Great Britain Collection, South Bank Centre, touring exhibition, 1987-1989
1988
Scottish Painters Abroad, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
1989
Song of the Sea, Dundee Museum and Art Gallery, 1989
1991
Directions Near and Far, William Jackson Gallery, London, 1991
The Winter Seen, William Jackson Gallery, London
1992
The Scottish Gallery: The First 150 Years (Festival Exhibition), The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, August 1992
Small is Beautiful Part 9, Flowers East, Richmond Road, London, December 1992
1995
William Gear: Past and Present Friends, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, 1995
1998
The Lighthouse: A Private Collection of Pictures and Objects, Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, 1998
1999
Scotland’s Art, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, July 1999
2001
The Colourist Connection, The McManus Galleries, Dundee, December 2001
2005
Famous Fifers, St Andrews Museum, 2005
2008
Behind Closed Doors: Birmingham’s Private Collections from Van Dyke to Cornelia Parker, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, January 2008
2009
The Edinburgh School of Painting, The Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, 2009
2010
Godrevy Light, National Maritime Museum Cornwall, Falmouth, June 2010
Volcano: Turner to Warhol, Compton Verney, Warwick, July 2010
2011
Scottish Art 1650-2010: Work from the City’s Collection, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, May 2011
2018
Virginia Woolf: An Exhibition Inspired By Her Writings, Tate St Ives, touring exh. UK: Tate St Ives, 10 February – 29 April 2018; Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 26 May – 16 September 2018, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 2 October – 9 December 2018
50/50: Fifty Women Artists 1900 – 1950, Liss Llewellyn Fine Art Ltd, touring exh., UK: The Ambulatory, The Worshipful Company of Mercers, 27 November 2018 – 22 March 2019; The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, 2 April – 20 July 2019
2019
A Good Night: Nocturnes for Night Owls, Falmouth Art Gallery, 19 January – 30 March 2019
In Colour – Sickert to Riley, The Charleston Trust, Lewes, 21 February – 30 August 2019
The World As Yet Unseen: Women Artists in Conversation with Partou Zia, Falmouth Art Gallery, 6 April – 15 June 2019
Fire: Flashes to Ashes in British Art 1692-2019, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 15 June–1 September 2019
2020
Lines from Scotland, Fife Contemporary, touring exh., Scotland: St Andrews Museum, 9 November 2019 – 22 February 2020, Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries, 7 March – 10 May 2020, Gracefield Arts Centre, 16 May – 25 July 2020
2021
Harbour: IN TIME, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust, Edinburgh, 2021
2022
A Century of the Artist’s Studio 1920 – 2020, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 16 February – 29 May 2022
Scottish Women Artists Transforming Tradition [from the Fleming Collection], The Fleming Collection, touring exh., UK: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich, 9 April – 4 September 2022; Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, 28 July 2023 – 6 January 2024
A Window into Scottish Art: The Ingram & Fleming Collections, The Lightbox, Woking, 23 April – 3 July 2022
Earth: Digging Deep in British Art 1781 – 2022, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 9 July – 11 September 2022
The Lindisfarne Gospels, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 17 September – 4 December 2022
The Northern Isles, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 3 – 26 November 2022
Like A Huge Scotland, Fruitmarket, Edinburgh, 5 – 27 November 2022
2023
Green Spaces Through an Artistic Lens, St Andrews Heritage Museum and Garden, 25 March – 14 May 2023
Modern Scots, Perth Art Gallery, 6 April 2023 – 6 April 2024
Inside Landscape – the natural environment observed by women artists, Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, 17 June – 19 August 2023
Shifting Vistas: 250 Years of Scottish Landscape, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, 24 June 2023 – 2 June 2024
“Sheer Verve”: The Women’s International Art Club, Ben Uri Gallery and Museum, London, 15 September – 15 December 2023
2024
The Shape of Things: Still Life in Britain, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 11 May – 20 October 2024
Prints
Barns-Graham’s energetic and colourful prints have been selected for exhibitions highlighting the skill and success of printmaking today.
1994
Painters’ Prints, Curwen Gallery, London, 1994
1998
Curwen Print Makers, Curwen Gallery, London 1998
2011
Annual Print Exhibition, Belgrave Gallery, St Ives, January 2011
The 26th London Original Art Fair, The Royal Academy of Arts, London, April 2011
2021
MONO, Glasgow Print Studio, 7 August – 25 September 2021
Hockney to Himid: 60 Years of British Printmaking, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 13 November 2021 – 24 April 2022