Joan Gillchrest British , 1918-2008

Joan Gillchrest (1918–2008) was a British naïve painter best known for her colourful depictions of Cornish fishing villages, harbours, and coastal life around Mousehole and St Ives. Born in Westminster, London, she studied at the Grosvenor School of Art under Iain Macnab and first exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts at just 18 years old. She later exhibited with the New English Art Club and the London Group. Moving to Cornwall in 1958, Gillchrest developed the distinctive, expressive style for which she became widely admired, and held successful solo exhibitions including at Plymouth Art Gallery in 1969. Today she is regarded as one of the leading British naïve artists associated with post-war Cornish painting.