Bryan Ingham: Flowers and Jugs
6 September - 1 November 2025
Bryan Ingham (1936 – 1997) lived and worked on the Lizard Peninsula from the 1960s. Jollytown was his muse, home and studio for much of this time, an isolated house glimpsing the sea, with no electricity or running water. In 2015 Kestle Barton mounted an exhibition of etchings that focused on his home and places on The Lizard. The prints were all from the Bryan Ingham estate and we are pleased to be working with the estate again on this exhibition of prints and drawings.
Bryan Ingham: Flowers and Jugs (6 Sep – 1 Nov), includes work, much of which is previously unseen, focusing on images of jugs and flowers, regular motifs throughout Ingham’s career. This collection provides insight into his working process: the relationship between drawing and etching. It also demonstrates his range between representation and abstraction, and the mastery of printmaking that he possessed.
Bryan Ingham’s depiction and interpretation of flowers and jugs was an emotional and unbroken journey throughout his life. The ceramics he inherited and collected featured as characters in his depictions, familiar companions that could be playfully represented. He was always concerned with the play of light, edges against a landscape, curves and planes. The flowers he observed were often from his garden at Jollytown, his eye relishing their complex and graceful forms. Flowers can symbolise a wide range of emotions and familiarity, the notion of transience is always there in their depiction.
Whilst the still life genre has very historical roots, the pictoral form Ingham took tended toward the language of Cubism. He was influenced by the work of Cezanne, Gris, Morandi and Nicholson. His incredible skill and experimentation with the medium of etching marks him out as one of the foremost printmakers of his generation.
Kestle Barton is delighted to have this unique, second, opportunity to showcase Bryan Ingham’s prints. He is associated with The Lizard through his many years of living and working here; and he has an international reputation for this work across a range of mediums. Focusing on his print works, allows a depth of understanding and appreciation for his talents and sensibilities… and a chance to actually look at his work up close.
Simon Marsh brings access and understanding to works of art by Ingham, enhanced by his own printmaking skills. He is an artist and intaglio printer. He moved to Cornwall in 2014 where he has set up Jollytown Editions. To accompany the exhibition, Simon Marsh, a printmaker from the Bryan Ingham estate will be running two-day workshops on printmaking for the local secondary school in Mullion, and the other open to the public. The public workshop will take place over two days, Sunday 7 and Saturday 13 September – 10:30am – 5pm. For more information about the workshop click here.
Image:
Bryan Ingham, Bowl of Flowers, 1972, etching
