Daphne McCLURE
Cornish-born, prominent painter and active member of the Newlyn Society of Artists, Daphne was born in Helston. She began her art schooling at the Redruth School of Art, going on to the Hornsey School of Art, London and then the Central School of Art there. For 25 years she lived away from Cornwall, working for an exciting period of time at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
In 1976 she and her husband, dentist George McClure, returned to Cornwall to live in Porthleven near Helston. Twice in the 1990s Daphne was chosen as a Critic's Choice prizewinner in the Newlyn Contemporaries Exhibitions, when these popular and much missed NSA Open Exhibitions were held.
In 2005 she was invited by the Albers Foundation to take up a residency in New England. Together with her daughter, the artist Emma McClure, she twice presented a show of work. First at the Cadogan Contemporary, London, was a mixed show with other mother and daughter artists, and subsequently in Penzance at the Rainy Day Gallery, Daphne and Emma showed the works of 'Mother and Daughter'. She took part in many group and solo exhibitions locally, in London and around the southwest. Her much-admired work - quirky, sometimes muted, sometimes jolly - so evocative of the spirit of Cornwall, is to be found in many private and public collections.
media
Painter of landscapes, industrial complexes, seascapes
works and access
Works incl: Levant Mine (1996); Rough Seas in June (2000) both in Cross (2002) pp84-5; Hayle scenes; Porthleven series; Newlyn Bridges (2001) illus in Brittain & Cook; Levant Mine, Godrevy from the Tate; Gulval Hill, Cottages on Bryher, Towards Ludgvan, Fields on Bryher, etc. etc (2011, shown at Cornwall Contemporary & illus in catalogue in full colour)
Access to work: Hypatia Collection of Women's Art;
exhibitions
1986: RCM & RIC Three Spires Festival Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Pottery, Truro (Opening of the RCM or County Art Gallery, by the Royal Institution of Cornwall)
NAG Art Share 1988, A Century of Art in Cornwall 1889-1989 1989, Sun, Moon & Stars 1989, Critics Choice 1989, 1990 (Selected); Solo Exhibition 1990
Selected Exhibitions [with thanks to Badcock's Gallery, Newlyn]:
1994 - ‘Levant Mine’, Wilson Stephens Fine Art, London;
1997 - ‘Porthleven to Penzance’, Penwith Gallery, St Ives;
1997 - ‘Mothers and Daughters’, Cadogan Contemporary, London;
1998 - ‘Porthleven’, Salthouse Gallery, St Ives;
2002 - ‘Weather Report’, Newlyn Gallery;
2004 - ‘New Work’, Archeus Fine Art, London;
2005 - ‘Mother and Daughter - Emma McClure’, Rainy Day Gallery,
Penzance;
2005 - N.S.A. Exhibition at Thompson’s City Gallery, London;
2005 - Spring Exhibition, Penwith Gallery, St Ives;
2005 - Invited to be Artist in Residence at The Albers Foundation,
Connecticut, U.S.A.;
2006 - From Cornwall to Connecticut, Badcocks Gallery, Newlyn;
2007 - Mixed shows at Cornwall Contemporary Gallery, Penzance;
2007 - Installation ‘St Michael's Mount’ NSA exhibition, Newlyn Art Gallery;
2007 - ‘New work’ exhibition, Badcocks Gallery, Newlyn;
2011: 'The Female Perspective' Group show, Chapel Gallery, Gulval April-May
2011: 'Daphne McClure - a life in art', Cornwall Contemporary 25 Mar-5 Apr, Penzance
NSA Exhibition, Mariners Chapel, St Ives: Uncharted Landscapes
2014: Lemon Street Gallery, Truro (17 May-14 June)
2016: Winter Collection Exhibition, Cornwall Contemporary, Penzance (Dec 2016-Feb 2017)
2017: Cornwall Contemporary, Penzance (5-30 Apr)
2020: Daphne McClure - A Cornish Perspective, Cornwall Contemporary, Penzance (17 Oct-14 Nov)
2024: Truro School Art Collection, Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro (30 Jan-18 May)
2025: Daphne McClure: A Celebration of her Life and Work, Cornwall Contemporary, Penzance - accompanied by a selection of paintings by her daughter Emma McClure (14 Mar-12 Apr)
memberships
NSA; Hypatia Trust
references
Brittain, Sarah and Cook, Simon (2001) Behind the Canvas, 40 Artists working in West Cornwall;
Brittain, Sarah (2011) Daphne McClure - A Life in Art, Exh Cat with bio and artist's statement, Cornwall Contemporary
Brittain-Mansbridge, Sarah (2020) Daphne McClure - A Cornish Perspective (2020) pub. Sansom & Co.
Buckman (2006) Dictionary of British Artists since 1945
Cross (2002) Catching the Wave (photo likeness & illus)
Hardie (1995) 100 Years in Newlyn: Diary of a Gallery
WCAA file