Isobel Atterbury Heath (29 December 1908 – 1989) was a British artist and poet active in the St Ives area of

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

Biography

Heath was born in

Kingston Upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

. Little is known of her childhood but later in life she indicated that her father had been a chemist and that she had been educated by nuns. Heath studied at the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

in Paris before, in the late 1930s, taking classes at the school of painting run by Leonard Fuller in St Ives. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Heath worked as an illustrator for the Ministry of Information, painting and drawing workers in ordinance factories and at a camouflage factory in St Ives. During the war, she also made pencil drawings of British and American troops stationed in Cornwall. She was given permission to record naval subjects and also spent time at the

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

station at RAF Perranporth. During the conflict she met her future husband, Dr. Marc Prati, a political correspondent for ''

La Stampa (English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...

'', who as an Italian national had been interned in Cornwall. Heath was a member of the St Ives Society of Artists and in 1949 was a founder member of the breakaway Penwith Society of Arts but resigned in 1950 and rejoined the St Ives Society in 1957. She continued to exhibit with the St Ives Society for the rest of her life. The Cornish landscape was the principal subject of Heath's paintings and she would regularly camp out on the moors in Cornwall for several days at a time painting landscapes. In 1962, for the

Royal Watercolour Society The Royal Watercolour Society is a British institution of painters working in watercolours. The Society is a centre of excellence for water-based media on paper, which allows for a diverse and interesting range of approaches to the medium of wa ...

she organized an exhibition of unknown Cornish artists, entitled ''The Cornish Experiment''. Heath exhibited with the

Royal Institute of Oil Painters The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, also known as ROI, is an association of painters in London, England, and is the only major art society which features work done only in oil. It is a member society of the Federation of British Artists. Histor ...

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London. History In 1831, the ...

and the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

. She was included in the centenary exhibition of the

Society of Women Artists The Society of Women Artists (SWA) is a British art body dedicated to celebrating and promoting fine art created by women. It was founded as the Society of Female Artists (SFA) in 1855, offering women artists the opportunity to exhibit and sell ...

held in London during 1955. Heath also published three volumes of poetry.

Published works

* ''Passing Thoughts'', 1971 * ''Love'', 1973 * ''Reflections'', 1978

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, Isobel 1908 births 1989 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists Académie Colarossi alumni Artists from Kingston upon Hull English women painters English women poets Painters from Cornwall World War II artists 20th-century British war artists 20th-century British women painters