Sir Terry Frost
(British, 1915-2003)
Sir Terry Frost (R.A.) had a long and successful artistic career, but it only commenced during his 30s when, during his time as a prisoner of war (POW), he was encouraged and inspired by an inmate to take on art as a vocation.
Born in Leamington Spa on 13 October 1915, Frost’s childhood was difficult, leaving school at 14 and being put to work in bicycle shop. Nevertheless, art still served a place in his life, albeit peripheral, with Frost regularly attending evening art classes as a teenager. During World War Two, whilst serving with the commandos in Crete in 1941, Frost was captured and it was during this time that his artistic career began.
As a POW, Frost met fellow prisoner Adrian Heath who was impressed by Frost’s portraits of the other prisoners within the Stalag 383 Camp in Bavaria. As Heath had studied at the Slade School of Art, a bond was formed between the two, with Heath helping foster Frost’s natural talent. Frost himself highlighted the importance of this four-year period in his life, stating: “In POW camps, I had a tremendous spiritual experience, a more aware or heightened perception during starvation, and I honestly do not think that awakening has ever left me”.
Following the War, Frost studied at Camberwell School of Art and he held his first solo exhibition in London at the Leicester Galleries in 1952. He taught at many academies including Bath Academy of Art, Leeds College of Art and Cyprus College of Art. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1992 and his hard work and artistic quality was recognised with a knighthood in 1998. Today, Frost’s works are in the collections of the Tate Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the National Galleries of Scotland.
Whilst he is best known for his abstract paintings of the 1950s, that reflect the landscapes of St. Ives and the Penwith Peninsula in Cornwall, new appreciation and academic value is being attributed to his works from the 1960s, which embody a greater sense of freedom via their unbound compositions and dramatic deployment of colour.
