A few years ago, I came across two works by Bruce Taylor, at a car boot sale in the South of France: a small 'abstract' oil painting and an unusually elongated ceramic dish decorated with a contemporary wax-resist 'camouflage' glaze; quite different from the studio ceramics made in the UK at the time.
Both works were signed 'Bruce Taylor' and dated 1956.
Although I did not recognize the name, I realized that I was looking at something special.
The painting displayed some of the characteristics of British art of the 1950s, but did not look derivative of the work of any known artist I knew:
The shape and the glaze pattern of the dish gave it a biomorphic appearance quite distinct from the work of Bernard Leach who set the ceramic agenda in St Ives.
In 2013, I came across and acquired a third piece by Taylor: an 'abstract' ink drawing (below), signed and dated 1959.
This was enough to induce me to find out more about the artist .
One year later, the person who had sold me these works informed me that Bruce Taylor was a British artist who had lived in her village, where he had died in 1989.
Following the death of his third wife, Judy, in 2010, the heirs (nephew and niece of his third wife), who were not interested in either Taylor or his art works, took what they wanted and left the studio content to be sold for a local cancer charity.
When the house was sold, the large plan chest in which Taylor had kept his work on paper — paintings, drawings, prints and photographs — disappeared; probably skipped.
This tragic event makes the remaining works — sculptures, a painting, drawings, ceramics, photographs and a remarkable photomontage —all the more precious; for, alongside works owned by family members, they constitute the only known body of works from which we can get a sense of the variety and quality of his already small oeuvre.
Conscious that the remaining works were going to be sold and scattered, and that the artist's name would remain forgotten, I took the decision to acquire all the works that had not been sold, and keep them together; with a view to curating an exhibition, in a public gallery, and see if Taylor could be written back into the history of St Ives and British Modernism.
The first reference to Taylor I came across was about the sale of a sale of one of his sculpture (below) by the Paisnel Gallery in gallery in London.
A short truncated biographical note on the gallery web site read:
'Born in Yorkshire. He studied at Bath Academy of Art. Taught in Hertfordshire and in the late 50's in Cornwall. He lived in St Ives and worked in welded sculpture. He was a member of the Penwith Society and became chairman in 1957. Exhibited in m…'.
During a visit to the gallery, I was informed me that this sculpture was the only work that the gallery had ever come across by this artist.
The minutes of the Penwith Society's meeting — preserved, uncatalogued, in the archives of the Penwith Society — reveal the extent of Taylor's active participation in the activities of the Society and the issues it had to address.
THE NEXT STEP required finding out how, why and in what circumstances Taylor moved to the South of France.
This required another visit to locate more works, if possible, and to locate and talk with people whohad known him.
Both works were signed 'Bruce Taylor' and dated 1956.
Although I did not recognize the name, I realized that I was looking at something special.
The painting displayed some of the characteristics of British art of the 1950s, but did not look derivative of the work of any known artist I knew:
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| Bruce Taylor, Dish, earthenware. 1956. |
The shape and the glaze pattern of the dish gave it a biomorphic appearance quite distinct from the work of Bernard Leach who set the ceramic agenda in St Ives.
* * *
In 2013, I came across and acquired a third piece by Taylor: an 'abstract' ink drawing (below), signed and dated 1959.
This was enough to induce me to find out more about the artist .
One year later, the person who had sold me these works informed me that Bruce Taylor was a British artist who had lived in her village, where he had died in 1989.
Following the death of his third wife, Judy, in 2010, the heirs (nephew and niece of his third wife), who were not interested in either Taylor or his art works, took what they wanted and left the studio content to be sold for a local cancer charity.
When the house was sold, the large plan chest in which Taylor had kept his work on paper — paintings, drawings, prints and photographs — disappeared; probably skipped.
This tragic event makes the remaining works — sculptures, a painting, drawings, ceramics, photographs and a remarkable photomontage —all the more precious; for, alongside works owned by family members, they constitute the only known body of works from which we can get a sense of the variety and quality of his already small oeuvre.
Conscious that the remaining works were going to be sold and scattered, and that the artist's name would remain forgotten, I took the decision to acquire all the works that had not been sold, and keep them together; with a view to curating an exhibition, in a public gallery, and see if Taylor could be written back into the history of St Ives and British Modernism.
The first reference to Taylor I came across was about the sale of a sale of one of his sculpture (below) by the Paisnel Gallery in gallery in London.
 |
| Bruce Taylor, May Bug, Welded steel. 1958. |
A short truncated biographical note on the gallery web site read:
'Born in Yorkshire. He studied at Bath Academy of Art. Taught in Hertfordshire and in the late 50's in Cornwall. He lived in St Ives and worked in welded sculpture. He was a member of the Penwith Society and became chairman in 1957. Exhibited in m…'.
During a visit to the gallery, I was informed me that this sculpture was the only work that the gallery had ever come across by this artist.
David Buckman's dictionary of 'Artists in Britain', published by the Goldmark Gallery (01572821424), available on line at [http://issuu.com/powershift/docs/dictionary_t], the only published source of information about Taylor, seemed to have been the source.
It was used by the Belgrave Gallery, London, who sold the sculpture to the Paisnel Gallery.
It reads:
'Bruce Taylor (1921-) - Sculptor and teacher, born in Yorkshire, who studied at Bath Academy of Art, Corsham. He taught in Hertfordshire, then in Cornwall, living in St Ives. Was a member of the Penwith Society, becoming chairman in 1957. Showed in many mixed exhibitions in Britain and abroad, including 19 Young Sculptors, Hillfield Gardens, Gloucester, 1962,when he was resident at Pitchcombe, Stroud. Had a solo exhibition at Drian Gallery, 1958. Taylor had work in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Leicester Education Authority. He was featured in Belgrave Gallery's 1992 show of British abstract art of the 50s and 60s'.
RESEARCH:
In the St Ives archive I was able to study a selection of exhibition catalogues of the Penwith Society exhibitions and compile a list of Taylor's exhibited works.
Via antiquarian booksellers, I also sourced the catalogues of Taylor's only two London exhibitions, at the Drian Gallery and two for his exhibition at Arnolfini, in Bristol (1963 and 1966).
In the St Ives archive I was able to study a selection of exhibition catalogues of the Penwith Society exhibitions and compile a list of Taylor's exhibited works.
Via antiquarian booksellers, I also sourced the catalogues of Taylor's only two London exhibitions, at the Drian Gallery and two for his exhibition at Arnolfini, in Bristol (1963 and 1966).
The St Ives Times & Echo, that covered the arts during the period Taylor was in St Ives, provided some complementary information about Taylor's involvement with the Penwith Society, his contributions in organizing exhibitions and interacting with the film crew that came to shoot two documentaries about the arts in St Ives.
Taylor showing visitors at the Penwith Galley
The last document in the St Ives archive that shows Taylor in St Ives is a photograph of Taylor and Bernard Leach opening an exhibition of children art at the Penwith Society gallery published in The St Ives Times and Echo of 3rd March 1967. By then Taylor had moved to Grantham and must have come back to St Ives especially for this event:
THE NEXT STEP required finding out how, why and in what circumstances Taylor moved to the South of France.
This required another visit to locate more works, if possible, and to locate and talk with people whohad known him.
This was critical, for an internet search in sale rooms returned the result 'No auction results available for Bruce TAYLOR'.
During a three months research visit to Pyrénées Orientales, partly funded with an Arts Council, England grant, I met an artist friend of Bruce and Judy Taylor, a British expat sculptress, who knew the Taylors well and provided invaluable background information about Taylor's character, interests, his activities, moves, and how he earned a living making ceramics.
She did not have works by Taylor to show me, however.
It would seem that some of the sculptures and ceramic pieces that Taylor displayed in his open air showroom were sold to strangers to the region and there is little hope of tracing them now.
One large drawing that Taylor kept on the living room wall, but that was given by Judy to a friend, after Taylor's death, re-surfaced, during my visit. I was able to acquire it and have it professionally restored; for it had suffered in the rough environment of the Taylor's rustic home.
Back in England I located two more works by Taylor — two drawings — and learnt about the recent destruction of a plaster sculpture that had been left outside, unprotected from the elements, in the owner's garden.
Various calls fo information via the local press in St Ives, via on-line resources and magazines about art led me to one of Taylor's daughter from his second mariage and, later, via the blog I compiled, I was contacted by his son from a first mariage.
The fragmentation of Taylor's life has made it more difficult to establish key facts about his life and work, before he decided to become an artist.
During a three months research visit to Pyrénées Orientales, partly funded with an Arts Council, England grant, I met an artist friend of Bruce and Judy Taylor, a British expat sculptress, who knew the Taylors well and provided invaluable background information about Taylor's character, interests, his activities, moves, and how he earned a living making ceramics.
She did not have works by Taylor to show me, however.
It would seem that some of the sculptures and ceramic pieces that Taylor displayed in his open air showroom were sold to strangers to the region and there is little hope of tracing them now.
One large drawing that Taylor kept on the living room wall, but that was given by Judy to a friend, after Taylor's death, re-surfaced, during my visit. I was able to acquire it and have it professionally restored; for it had suffered in the rough environment of the Taylor's rustic home.
Back in England I located two more works by Taylor — two drawings — and learnt about the recent destruction of a plaster sculpture that had been left outside, unprotected from the elements, in the owner's garden.
Various calls fo information via the local press in St Ives, via on-line resources and magazines about art led me to one of Taylor's daughter from his second mariage and, later, via the blog I compiled, I was contacted by his son from a first mariage.
The fragmentation of Taylor's life has made it more difficult to establish key facts about his life and work, before he decided to become an artist.
