Tom Cross 1931 – 2009 | A Different Perspective

Tom Cross was well known as a painter, educator, and writer. He was a member of the Penwith Society of Arts and later became its chairman. It is only fitting for this major retrospective exhibition to be held at the Penwith Gallery where he exhibited many times. The collection is now owned and managed by his son David and daughter-in-law, Carol who have collated the extensive collection and through this research have been rewarded by discovering the unique ever-changing style of his work over 60 years including many works that have never been seen for decades. This exhibition hopes to illustrate a journey of his work from the early days of Manchester and the Slade, his friendship with LS Lowry through to the abstract years in Italy, Wales, and Reading and then back to realism in Cornwall and travels abroad. Tom was first and foremost an artist and regularly exhibited his work after graduating from the Slade in the mid 1950’s. He held several educational positions culminating in the Principal of Falmouth School of Art 1976-87. In later life he wrote a number of books, one of his most important being “Painting the Warmth of The Sun – St Ives Artists 1939-1975”, first published in 1984 and later televised, a book about the St Ives Modernist period that helped prepare the ground for the founding of the Tate Gallery in St Ives which opened in 1993. He lived and painted in Cornwall on the Helford River for over 30 years with his wife Patricia. David and Carol continue to promote his work and the Tom Cross Archives at Falmouth University now have most of his sketch books and a number of important works which are on display in the campus thus continuing his educational legacy. “We hope the range and depth of this exhibition will surprise and delight. We are hugely thankful to the Penwith Gallery to exhibit a small part of Tom’s extensive collection and to celebrate a life of art from a Different Perspective.”