Margaret Mellis
Ian's Dried Peony and Hyacinth II, Undated
Biography |
|
| 1914 | Born in China, to Scottish parents |
| 1915 | Moves to Scotland |
| 1929 | Studies at Edinburgh College of Art, alongside William Gear and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham |
| 1933 | Receives the Andrew Grant Travelling Scholarship, and studies in Paris under Andre Lhote |
| 1936 | Fellowship at Edinburgh College of Art |
| 1938 | Marries Adrian Stokes, and move to Little Parc Owles, near St Ives, befriending Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo and Barbara Hepworth |
| 1940 | Constructivist period (collage and relief carving) |
| 1945 | Returns to painting |
| 1947 | After the break-up of her marriage, moves to France with Francis Davison |
| 1950 | Moves with Davison to a remote smallholding in Syleham, Suffolk, and paints bold, simplified still life and landscapes |
| 1963 | Begins a series of paintings known as 'colour structures' |
| 1969 | Starts making 'painted reliefs' |
| 1975 | Moves to Southwold |
| 1978 | Begins making driftwood constructions |
| 1987 | Solo exhibition at the Redfern Gallery, London. Later befriends a young Damien Hirst, who visits her in Southwold |
| 1997 | Major retrospective opens at City Art Centre, Edinburgh |
| 2009 | Dies on 17th March aged 95 |
Selected solo exhibitions |
|
| 1959 | The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh |
| 1967 | University of East Anglia |
| 1968 | Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford |
| 1969 | Grabowski Gallery, London |
| 1970 | University of Stirling |
| 1972 | Basil Jacobs Gallery, London |
| 1976 | Compass Gallery, Glasgow |
| 1982 | Pier Arts Centre, Stromness |
| 1987 | Redfern Gallery, London |
| 1990 | Redfern Gallery, London |
| 1992 | Gainsborough's House, Sudbury (with Francis Davison) |
| 1994 | Redfern Gallery, London |
| 1997 | City Art Centre, Edinburgh (and toured to London and Orkney) |
| 2001 | Austin/Desmond Fine Art, London |
| 2001 | Newlyn Art Gallery, Penzance |
| 2008 | University of East Anglia |
| 2009 | Austin/Desmond Fine Art, London |
| 2011 | Wills Lane Gallery, St Ives |
| 2015 | Pier Arts Centre, Orkney (with Damien Hirst) |
| 2016 | Redfern Gallery, London |
Selected group exhibitions |
|
| 1942 | London Museum, London, 'New Movements in Art' |
| 1950 | Leicester Galleries, London, '18th Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture by Artists of Fame and Promise' |
| 1952 | New Burlington Galleries, London, 'The Mirror and the Square' |
| 1958 | Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 'International Guggenheim Award' |
| AIA Gallery, London, 'Joyce Batty, Margaret Mellis, William Crozier' | |
| 1962 | AIA Gallery, London, 'Ten Painters' |
| 1963, '65 | Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 'John Moores' |
| 1965 | Galleria Numero, Firenze, 'Women's International Open' |
| 1966 | Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 'Women's International Art Club Exhibition' |
| 1967 | David Hume Tower, Glasgow, '1st Edinburgh Open' |
| 1970 | Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh |
| 1973 | Kettle's Yard, Cambridge |
| 1977 | New Art Centre, London, 'Cornwall 1945-1955' |
| 1978 | Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 'Objects' |
| 1982 | Castle Museum, Norwich, 'The Women's Art Show 1550-1970' |
| 1985 | Tate Gallery, London, 'St Ives 1939-64' |
| 1989 | Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, 'Scottish Art since 1900' |
| 1992 | Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 'Artists from Cornwall' |
| 1993 | Tate St Ives, 'Inaugural Exhibition' |
| 1995 | Kettle's Yard, Cambridge, 'Kettle's Yard Open' |
| 2000 | John Innes Centre, Norwich, 'The Scottish Connection' |
| 2011 | Tate St Ives, 'Summer 20110' |
| 2015 | Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, 'Modern Scottish Women: Painters and Sculptors 1885-1965' |
Selected public collections |
|
| Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London | |
| British Museum, London | |
| City Art Centre, Edinburgh | |
| Contemporary Art Society, London | |
| Ferens Art Gallery, Hull | |
| Government Art Collection, London | |
| Jerwood Collection | |
| Museums Sheffield | |
| Perth Museums & Art Gallery | |
| Pier Arts Centre, Stromness | |
| Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia | |
| Scottish Arts Council | |
| Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh | |
| Southampton City Art Gallery | |
| Tate | |
| Victoria & Albert Museum, London | |
