Sandra Blow (1925-2006) is among the most important British artists of the later 20th century. During a time of rapid change in the art world, her commitment to abstract painting resulted in a large and diverse body of work of distinctive power and subtlety.

Michael Bird's fascinating survey of Sandra Blow's life and art, which draws on many conversations with the artist in her lifetime, provides a definitive overview of her career. Its republication in Blow's centenary year comes at a time of unparalleled interest in women's artists' lives and work, and a new sense of excitement around abstract art.

In this highly readable monograph, Michael Bird looks in depth at Blow's evolving studio practice and the personal nature of her abstract vision. He sets her achievement firmly within the wider context of British and international art of the post-war period and late twentieth century, casting new light on the role played in her life by Alberto Burri and Roger Hilton, two influences she acknowledged to be crucial to her art. The book is illustrated throughout with a fully representative selection of Blow's work.

Through close attention to Blow's working methods, this book provides a unique insight into her creative process. It reveals the intensity of emotional engagement and technical experimentation that lie behind the apparent spontaneity of her vivid handling of materials, colour and form.

About the Author

Michael Bird is an independent art historian and curator, and author of more than a dozen books, including The St Ives Artists: A Biography of Place and Time (2008, with a new edition published in 2016/2023), Matt Rugg: The Many Languages of Sculpture (2023), George Fullard: Sculpture and Survival (2017) and Studio Voices: Art and Life in 20th-Century Britain (2018) (all published by Lund Humphries). In 2016 he was National Life Stories Goodison Fellow and in 2018-21 Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Exeter. In 2022 he co-curated Living the Landscape: Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson and the Artists of St Ives at the Museum Belvedere, Heerenveen.

Reviews

'A fascinating read for any Blow enthusiast.'

* Cornwall Today *

'Bird's lavishly illustrated retrospective text, the first devoted to Blow, finally gives the artist and her large-scale, vividly hued, obdurately abstract work their due... Highly recommended.'

* CHOICE *



Book Information
ISBN 9781848220898
Author Michael Bird
Format Paperback
Page Count 172
Imprint Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
Publisher Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
Dimensions(mm) 270mm * 228mm * 16mm