Tate St Ives

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External view of the Tate St Ives
External view of the Tate St Ives
One of the curving art deco staircases
One of the curving art deco staircases
Porthmeor Beach, St Ives with the entrance to the Tate gallery on the right.
Porthmeor Beach, St Ives with the entrance to the Tate gallery on the right.

Tate St Ives is an art gallery in St Ives, Cornwall, UK, exhibiting work by modern British artists, including work of the St Ives School. The three story building, designed by architects Evans and Shaleff, lies on the site of the old gas works overlooking Porthmeor Beach. It was opened to the public in 1993, the second regional gallery in the Tate Gallery network. However, the Tate also manages an earlier property in St Ives, the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden which it opened in 1980.

Recently, a new extension to the gallery has been proposed in response to the large numbers of visitors the gallery attracts, with the aims of providing better education spaces and accommodating larger works of art. The plans have met with fierce objections from some parts of the local community.

[edit] History of 20th-century art in St Ives: the 'St Ives School'

In 1920, Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada set up a pottery in St Ives, creating the town's first connection to international 20th-century art.

In 1928, an important meeting between Alfred Wallis, Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood started the development of the Cornish seaside resort of St Ives as an artists' colony.

With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo settled in St Ives, establishing an outpost for the abstract avant-garde movement in west Cornwall. After the war ended, a new and younger generation of artists emerged. These included Peter Lanyon, John Wells, Roger Hilton, Bryan Wynter, Patrick Heron, Terry Frost and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham.

Whilst Tate St Ives seeks to preserve the history of twentieth-century art in St Ives, the gallery also exhibits new work from artists working further afield. The gallery's artist residency programme aims to develop the professional practice of artists who live and work in Cornwall.

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