Leslie Illsley | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1936 Surbiton, United Kingdom |
| Died | 1989 Pendeen, United Kingdom |
| Education | Kingston College of Art, Central St Martins |
| Known for | Sculpture, painting, pottery |
| Movement | Covertism |
Leslie Illsley was an English artist and sculptor based in West Penwith. He was one of the founders of the Troika group (also known as Troika Pottery). Illsley is also the brother of prominent St Ives artist Bryan Illsley.
Illsley was the second of three brothers born and raised in Surbiton. He attended Kingston College of Art where he graduated. He attended evening classes as Central St Martins in 1959 whilst working as a sculptor repairing Westminster Abbey by day. In 1960 entered the Young Contemporaries competition beating such names as Peter Blake, Maurice Agis and David Hockney to first prize. [1] Illsley's influences were diverse from Brancusi and Paul Klee [2] to Rembrandt.
Illsley ran Troika with Benny Sirota from 1963 until Benny left the business in 1980 and eventually it closed in 1983. The Troika designs were mostly by Caroline Illsley, his first wife, who he met at Kingston School of Art. Together they produced the Troika ‘Love Plaque’.[ clarification needed ] This arguably made Leslie Illsley one of Britains most prolific artists. [3]
St Ives is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing. The decline in fishing, however, caused a shift in commercial emphasis, and the town is now primarily a popular seaside resort, notably achieving the title of Best UK Seaside Town from the British Travel Awards in both 2010 and 2011. St Ives was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1639. St Ives has become renowned for its number of artists. It was named best seaside town of 2007 by The Guardian newspaper.
Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leading figure in the colony of artists who resided in St Ives during the Second World War.
Benjamin Lauder Nicholson, OM was an English painter of abstract compositions, landscapes, and still-life. He was one of the leading promoters of abstract art in his country.
Bernard Howell Leach was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery".
Troika was an art pottery that operated in Cornwall from 1962 to 1983. It was founded by three people, Leslie Illsley, Jan Thompson and Benny Sirota who took over the Powell and Wells Pottery at Wheal Dream, where Sirota had previously worked as a decorator and driver. The name is from the Russian тройка, meaning "a set of three", or triumvirate.
Patrick Heron was a British abstract and figurative artist, critic, writer, and polemicist, who lived in Zennor, Cornwall.
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham CBE was one of the foremost British abstract artists, a member of the influential Penwith Society of Arts.
George Peter Lanyon was a British painter of landscapes leaning heavily towards abstraction. Lanyon was one of the most important artists to emerge in post-war Britain. Despite his early death at the age of forty-six he achieved a body of work that is amongst the most original and important reappraisals of modernism in painting to be found anywhere. Combining abstract values with radical ideas about landscape and the figure, Lanyon navigated a course from Constructivism through Abstract Expressionism to a style close to Pop. He also made constructions, pottery and collage.
Trevor Bell was an English Leeds-born artist and contemporary visual artist.
Seth Cardew was an English studio potter. He was the eldest son of fellow potter Michael Cardew and the brother of the composer Cornelius Cardew.
The St Ives School refers to a group of artists living and working in the Cornish town of St Ives. The term is often used to refer to the 20th century groups which sprung up after the First World War around such artists as Borlase Smart, however there was considerable artistic activity there from the late 19th Century onwards.
Denis Adeane Mitchell was an English abstract sculptor who worked mainly in bronze and wood. A prominent member of the St Ives group of artists, he worked as an assistant to Barbara Hepworth for many years.
Kate Nicholson was a British painter and the daughter of artist Ben Nicholson and his first wife, the artist Winifred Nicholson.
Kit Barker (1916–1988) was a British painter.
Paul Feiler was a German-born artist who was a prominent member of the St Ives School of art: he has pictures hanging in major art galleries across the world.
David Haughton (1924–1991) was a British artist associated with the St Ives movement. Many of his paintings, etchings and drawings feature aspects of the Cornish landscape, particularly the area around St Just.
Eileen W Aldridge was a British artist and art restorer, who also wrote and illustrated books for children.
Phyllis Mary Waters, known as Billie Waters was a British artist.
Anna R. Findlay (1885-1968) was a British artist and printmaker. She was known for her elegant colour linocut and woodcut prints of mostly topographical scenes.
