Patrick Heron was born in Leeds in 1920, studied at the Slade School of Fine Art (1937-39) and worked as an assistant to Bernard Leach (1944-45). His earlier work was figurative and influenced by Georges Braque and Henri Matisse, describing Matisse’s Red Studio as “by far and away the most influential single picture in my entire career”. From 1956 Heron moved towards abstraction which coincided with his move to Zennor on the north coast of Cornwall and his enrolment at the St Ives School.
In 1957 Heron started producing vertical and horizontal stripe paintings which recall the view of the sky and the sea visible from Eagles Nest just outside St Ives. Following this period, his work evolved into a looser format with soft edged shapes of vibrant colours.

Heron won the Grand Prize for his painting at the second John Moores exhibition in 1959 and a silver medal at the São Paulo Biennal in 1965. Among other exhibitions, seven of his works were included in the ‘St Ives’ exhibition at Tate Gallery in 1985. In 1977 he was created a CBE and died in his beloved St Ives in 1999.

The Shapes of Colour Series was based upon work produced between 1943 and 1978 when Heron was focussed on an exploration of space and colour. Printed on Velin Arches 250g paper by Kelpra Studio as a limited edition of 50 copies and 10 artist's proofs.


The present work is based on Katharine Christmas: December 1976 Gouache 3 1/2 x 6 3/4 in from the collection of Katharine Heron