Prunella Clough (English, 1919-1999) 

Prunella Clough was an English artist, most renowned for her painting but also a very talented printmaker. Clough also created assemblages from found objects, this aspect of her practice was largely unknown during her lifetime and came to light only after her death when these constructions were found in her studio. Born and raised in Chelsea, Clough enrolled in the Chelsea School of Art (now Chelsea College of Art) in 1937 where she studied under the instruction of Henry Moore.

Her studies were interrupted by the Second World War during which she works as an engineer’s draughtsman and cartographer. Prunella Clough returned to painting in 1945, only two years later in 1947 she held her first solo show at Leger Gallery, featuring works depicting post-war labour and the urban landscape. Clough used photographs to capture her subject matter but more important to her process was the memory of the experience of seeing something. Rural landscapes, industrial wastelands and urban environments find balance in Clough’s works, filtered through her memories.