Isobel Atterbury Heath (29 December 1908 – 1989) was a British artist and poet active in the St Ives area of Cornwall.
Isobel Atterbury Heath | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 December 1908 Kingston Upon Hull, England |
| Died | 1989 (aged 80–81) |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Painting, Poetry |
| Spouse | Marc Prati |
Biography edit
Heath was born in Kingston Upon Hull. Little is known of her childhood but later in life she indicated that her father had been a chemist and that she had been educated by nuns.[1] Heath studied at the Académie Colarossi in Paris before, in the late 1930s, taking classes at the school of painting run by Leonard Fuller in St Ives.[2][3] During World War II Heath worked as an illustrator for the Ministry of Information, painting and drawing workers in ordinance factories and at a camouflage factory in St Ives.[4][5] During the war, she also made pencil drawings of British and American troops stationed in Cornwall.[2] She was given permission to record naval subjects and also spent time at the Spitfire station at RAF Perranporth.[6] During the conflict she met her future husband, Dr. Marc Prati, a political correspondent for La Stampa, who as an Italian national had been interned in Cornwall.[6]
Heath was a member of the St Ives Society of Artists and in 1949 was a founder member of the breakaway Penwith Society of Arts but resigned in 1950 and rejoined the St Ives Society in 1957.[7][8] She continued to exhibit with the St Ives Society for the rest of her life.[1] The Cornish landscape was the principal subject of Heath's paintings and she would regularly camp out on the moors in Cornwall for several days at a time painting landscapes.[7][8] In 1962, for the Royal Watercolour Society she organized an exhibition of unknown Cornish artists, entitled The Cornish Experiment.[3] Heath exhibited with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours and the Royal Scottish Academy.[7] She was included in the centenary exhibition of the Society of Women Artists held in London during 1955.[8] Heath also published three volumes of poetry.[2][1]
Published works edit
- Passing Thoughts, 1971
- Love, 1973
- Reflections, 1978
References edit
- ^ a b c David Tovey (2003). Creating a Splash - The St Ives Society of Artists, the first 25 years (1927-1952). ISBN 0953836339.
- ^ a b c "Isobel Heath". Cornwall Artists Index. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- ^ a b Grant M. Waters. Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900-1950 Volume II. Eastbourne Fine Art.
- ^ Sacha Llewellyn & Paul Liss (2016). WWII War Pictures by British Artists. Liss Llewellyn Fine Art. ISBN 978-0-9930884-2-1.
- ^ Sacha Llewellyn (2018). Fifty Works by Fifty British Women Artists 1900-1950. Liss Llewllyn Fine Art. ISBN 9780993088483.
- ^ a b "Holding the Line 2015, The Art of the War Years 1939-1945". Sim Fine Arts. 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ a b c David Buckman (1989). Artists in Britain Since 1945. Art Dictionaries Ltd. ISBN 0953260909.
- ^ a b c Marion Whybrow (1994). St Ives 1883-1993 Portrait of an Art Colony. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 1851491708.
External links edit
- 2 artworks by or after Isobel Heath at the Art UK site