Sandra Blow RA (English, 1925-2006)

Biography

Sandra Blow was one of the pioneering artists in British post-war abstraction. In 1940, at the age of 15, she entered into St Martin’s School of Art, followed by a brief stint at the Royal Academy Schools. After the war, in 1947, Blow travelled to Italy where she met the Italian modernist Alberto Burri, from whom she learnt the use of non-art materials practiced by the European post-war movements of Art Informel and Arte Povera. Blow also spent time in Paris in 1948. 

Upon returning to the UK, Blow introduced an exciting informality into her painting by incorporating cheap, discarded materials such as sawdust, sackcloth, and plasters. In the late 1950s, Blow spent some time in Cornwall, taking up Patrick Heron on his offer of accommodation at his home in Zennor and later finding her own cottage in nearby Tregerthen. Returning to London in the 1960s, Blow’s palette lightened. Her often large-scale works show a continuity of many compositional elements. The practice of collage also remained important for Blow until the end of her career. 

In the mid- 1990s, Blow returned to Cornwall and settled in St Ives. Her first studio there was at the Porthmeor Studios overlooking Porthmeor Beach. Later, Blow built a large studio and home at Bullens Court. Blow became a Royal Academician in 1978 and had retrospectives at the Royal Academy in 1994 and Tate Britain in 2005.

Available works

Please see below the selection of available original artworks by Sandra Blow.