Encouraged by Ben Nicholson, the self-taught Tom Early became part of the St. Ives art colony in the late 1940s and 1950s. His first exhibitions, with Denis Mitchell, were held at the Castle Inn, St. Ives, and were followed by election to membership of the Penwith Society of Artists.

Early's work quickly grew in confidence and sophistication, his paintings critically well received at a ground-breaking exhibition 'Fifteen Cornish Artists' at Heal's Mansard Gallery, London in 1951, at which he showed alongside Peter Lanyon, Patrick Heron, Terry Frost and other eminent St. Ives artists. Here he met his second wife, and two years later left Cornwall.

It was to be seven years before a second flowering of painting was to emerge. During this period and following a return to medicine he was led into a constructive period of reflection which culminated in his taking up painting again after a more to Derby in 1958. Here with Keith Richardson-Jones he founded the Derby Group of Artists in 1961. Early's deeply personal vision aroused interest - not to say controversy - in the local and national media. He also exhibited with the Midland Group of Artists in Nottingham until his premature death in 1967 when his life's work effectively disappeared from view.

It was rescued from oblivion, through the promptings of Sven Berlin, with a first major retrospective in 1994, 'Tom Early - The rediscovery of a St. Ives artist' at the Belgrave Gallery in London, the publication of 'The Magic Shuttle' by Redcliffe Press, and an illustrated lecture at the Tate, St. Ives. A major joint exhibition with Denis Mitchell, 'The Rock and the Light', at the Penwith Galleries, St. Ives in 1996 was followed by a number of mixed exhibitions, All this led naturally to the publication of this catalogue raisonné, the recording by Michael Miller, artist and friend, of around 150 paintings, works on paper and sculpture. Dr. Denys Wilcox reveals Tom Early to be a rare visionary artist with a profound poetic gift in his appraisal prefacing the catalogue.

Published by: Sanson & Company Ltd
ISBN 1 904537 23 5
Publication Date: 2005
Number of Pages: 157 pages
Binding: Hardback
Book size: 11 x 8.5 inches

To order e-mail:
denys@courtgallery.com

Garnet Wolseley (1884-1967) Newlyn Summers John Wilcox Published by The Court Gallery Publication Date: October 2005 Number of Pages: 22 Pages Binding: Softback To order e-mail: denys@courtgallery.com