Robert Brennan (1925-2018)

Robert Brennan (1925 – 2018) was a self-taught artist who moved to St Ives in the early 1950’s. He was a member of the Penwith Society early on, when Herbert Read was President of the group. He showed work alongside Terry Frost, Karl Weschke, Barbara Hepworth and Roger Hilton amongst others, in the exhibition gallery that was established in St. Ives. At this time, the Penwith Society seasonal exhibitions became a national showplace for contemporary painting, sculpture and the crafts.

A recent exhibition, ‘Creative Tensions’, at the Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance, explored the early days of the Society, and the disagreements which erupted in the forging of new artistic pathways. As this story about one of Brennan’s monotypes shows – Brennan was no exception!