Bernard Evans Art

Bernard Evans works mainly in oils. His subject matter is the visible world which surrounds him both in West Cornwall and in Central London. He is a figurative painter and an observer. In this observation he finds the colour relationships and formal shapes which are the basis of his picture making. However subject matter is important to him and he believes that a sympathy or identification with his subject is an essential element of his painting. For Bernard Evans, over-abstraction of form can lead to a break with reality an impoverishment of expression. He relishes the use of the rules of perspective and proportion. He enjoys the light and form of the coastal landscape of West Cornwall and the rich life and colour of the fishing port of Newlyn in an age when the duller colours of the fishing vessels, equipment and clothes of the Victorian era have been replaced by a kaleidoscope of bright colours with the use of modern paints and plastics. As a contrast, the subject of London with its huge scale and diversity both of form and of life has provided him with the subject matter for a large series of works carried out in recent years.

Bernard Evans was born in Liverpool in 1929 and was a student at Liverpool College of Art and Camberwell School of Art. Many of his ideas on colour are based on the teaching of Martin Bloch who taught at Camberwell in the 1950s. Bernard Evans taught and lectured for 20 years in Cheshire and Nottingham then came down to Cornwall with Audrey his wife to run Mounts Bay Art Centre which operated for 25 years from their house in Newlyn. He now works from his new studio built in the garden of his old house. He paints the landscape and life of West Cornwall as well as continuing a series of paintings of London, especially the areas bordering on the Thames as it flows through the city from Westminster to Canary Wharf He has exhibited widely throughout his life and in recent years both in group exhibitions and in solo shows. He is a member and past chairman of the NSA (Newlyn Society of Artists).

If you are interested in either viewing or purchasing one the Bernard Evans's oil paintings, watercolours or sketches, please contact us on bernardev@madasafish.com or call 01736 366284.