Harbour Window with Two Figures, St Ives: July 1950 1950

Patrick Heron painted Harbour Window with Two Figures, St Ives: July 1950 without stating the medium with which it was painted. It’s a view from inside a room, looking out to the harbor. This work speaks to the period following the Second World War, when British artists like Heron sought to redefine the role of art. As mass media became increasingly influential, artists were self-conscious about the public role of art. Heron's painting represents the domestic interior alongside the natural harbor. It is concerned with modernising a traditional genre. As a historian, I am interested in how institutions like the Tate Modern, where this work is housed, shape our understanding of art. By researching Heron’s place in the St Ives art scene, and the critical reception of his work, we can better understand the social conditions that shaped his artistic production. Art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.