By 1918 St Ives had a long tradition as an artists' community. It took
as its standard the Royal Academy, which retained great popular appeal,
but was neither forward-looking nor progressive. In 1920 it became the
permanent home of one of the great innovators of the twentieth century,
the potter Bernard Leach. At the outbreak of the Second World War it
provided shelter for a small group of the most progressive painters and
sculptors, including notably Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth,
alreadyleaders in the advanced art movements of the 1930s, and committed
to the principle of abstraction. In the 1940s and 1950s a remarkable
group of younger artists came together in and around St Ives, making it
a centre of avant-garde art activity. Thisbook is concerned with those
artistic events, especially during the years 1939-75, and the larger
circumstances in the world of art by which they were affected, or which
were affected by them. It describes the singular contribution of St Ives
to theart of our time.