'Cornish Impressions'

Mixed media, 15" x 21.5"

Augustus John Ruskin Spear CBE RA PLG (1911-1990)

Ruskin Spear was born in Hammersmith where he won a scholarship to the local art school at 15. Whilst there he won a scholarship to the RCA in 1930, where he studied under Rothenstein, Gilbert Spencer and Charles Mahoney. His instantly recognisable Sickert influenced portraits of public personalities won him a large following at the annual Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. He has exhibited widely and his work is represented in many public collections including the Tate Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. A retrospective was held a the Royal Academy in 1980. This important early work on paper comes from the artist's widow, it was executed during a trip to Cornwall in the 1930s and represents a superb example of St Ives School style between the wars.

View all works by Augustus Spear on the P&H website