St. Ives School of Painting

The St. Ives School of Painting which opened in April 1938 was the realization of a undertaking made by Borlase Smart and Leonard Fuller while serving in the trenches in World War I. Smart had been a founder member of the St. Ives School of Painting and Fuller had been appointed Drawing Master at Dulwich College, London. The obvious lack of a school in St. Ives was apparent to all who lived and painted there. So, in 1938 Borlase Smart persuaded his friend Leonard Fuller (by now married to painter Margery Mostyn) to leave London and open The St. Ives School of Painting in what had been sculptor Denis Mitchell’s former Porthmeor studio. The school was an instant triumph acting as a magnet to students from across the country and from abroad. The outbreak of World War II saw the arrival of the younger artistic avant-garde of the day who included Ben Nicholson and his then wife Barbara Hepworth. Both Fuller and Smart were open to new ideas and Nicholson and his wife were soon invited to join the St. Ives Society of Artists. Other young artists were drawn to the area such as Terry Frost, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and local boy Peter Lanyon all using the amenities of the school, principally the life classes. However in 1949 there was a major schism within the Society and the ‘Moderns’ led by Fuller broke away and formed the Penwith Society of Arts, as a mark of respect to Borlase Smart who had passed away two years earlier.

The school prospered throughout this period and continued to draw both local and visiting students. The indigenous naive artist Bryan Pearce studied at the school shortly after taking up painting in his mid twenties. Following the passing of Leonard Fuller, Barbara Hepworth, Roger Hilton and Bryan Wynter the 1970’s almost became the end of an era in spite of Margery Mostyn’s tireless labours to continue her late husband’s work. However, Roy Ray came on the scene in 1974 and within a year was helping out on an ad hoc basis. With the advent of Tate Gallery sponsored exhibitions such as 'St. Ives 1939-64' and the building of the world class Tate St. Ives the school still continues to run more successfully than ever well into the millennium. Roy Ray retired in 2002.