Lost Mine 1959

Curator: Peter Lanyon’s "Lost Mine," resides here at Tate St Ives. He’s a Cornish artist, born in 1918. I always find myself drawn to the way the light seems to move. Editor: It's all watery blues and frantic brushstrokes. I'm immediately struck by the weight of the paint itself, and how that materiality echoes the physical labour of mining. Curator: Lanyon was an avid glider, so I think he's trying to capture that feeling, too – soaring above the landscape. It’s more of a feeling than a place, perhaps. Editor: But the place is key. The mining industry shaped Cornwall. Lanyon’s use of materials connects that industry to the artmaking process; both rely on extracting resources, right? Curator: Right. It’s a visual poem, really – a meditation on place, memory, and movement. It’s both exhilarating and melancholic. Editor: Yes, and those heavy impasto strokes – they’re not just about the view, but about the sheer, demanding work of shaping the land and the art. Curator: It’s a reminder that beauty and industry are always intertwined, isn’t it? Editor: Precisely. It's a conversation between the artist, the land, and the work itself.