Bob BOURNE
Bob Bourne was born in Exmouth, Devon and was evacuated as a child during the war years to Bermuda. His schooling was undertaken back in England at Brighton. Bob had a variety of working environments in West Cornwall and elsewhere, including a spell in Perth, Australia.
Primarily a self-taught painter, Cross considered Bourne's paintings in his chapter on 'realism, imagination and fantasy' artists, the combination of qualities and styles that Bob employed in his vivid and intense pieces.
A major solo show was held at Belgrave St Ives in 2011 to celebrate Bob Bourne's 80th birthday: 'Bourne at Eighty'.
Bob Bourne died in Helston in July 2021.
media
Painter in oils
works and access
Works incl: Cornish Hillside 1964 (illus PCF); London Interior 1966 (illus PCF);Green Crucifiction 1971 (illus in Cross, p168); Autumn Landscape 1986 (illus Cross, p169); Cornish Hillside 1964 (illus PCF)
Access: Cornwall County Council Collection; NAG Permanent Col (Penlee)
exhibitions
Tooth's Gallery, London, solo 1973
NAG Newlyn in Pont Aven 1977
Kalman Galleries, London from 1983;
Looking West 1987
A Century of Art in Cornwall 1889-1989, Truro
Private Views 1992
RWE Artists from Cornwall, Bristol (selected) 1992
Cornish Drawings, NAG, Nov, 1993 (exhibition card in file)
2011: Bourne at Eighty, Belgrave St Ives
2017: Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens Gallery (Aug)
2021: Bob Bourne - A Celebration, Belgrave Gallery, St Ives (15 Oct-8 Nov)
memberships
NSA 1995 list; resigned.
references
Brittain, Sarah and Cook, Simon (2001) Behind the Canvas, 40 Artists working in West Cornwall;
Buckman (2006) Dictionary of Artists in Britain since 1945
Cross (2002) Catching the Wave pp167-9 photo likeness & illus
Hardie (1995) 100 Years in Newlyn: Diary of a Gallery;
Public Catalogue Foundation (2007) Oil Paintings in Public Ownership, Cornwall & Isles of Scilly
RWE (1992) Artists from Cornwall, Bristol