John Wells work from Jerwood Collection on loan to Pallant House Gallery

Jerwood Collection is delighted to lend John Wells’s Vista to Alfred Wallis: An Artist’s Artist, a major exhibition at Pallant House Gallery exploring the remarkable work and enduring influence of Alfred Wallis (1855–1942).

 

Opening on 21 November 2026, the exhibition brings together paintings by Wallis alongside works by artists who collected, championed and were inspired by him, examining his significant influence on the development of Modern British art.

 

A fisherman and mariner who began painting in his seventies, Wallis drew upon memories of boats, harbours and the coastal landscape of Cornwall. Working largely on found materials, he developed a highly individual approach to perspective, form and composition which attracted the attention of artists including Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood following their encounter with him in St Ives in 1928.

 

Wallis’s distinctive visual language went on to resonate with generations of artists working in and around St Ives. Among them was John Wells (1907–2000), who became an important figure within the artistic community that developed in post-war Cornwall.

 

By bringing Wallis’s paintings into dialogue with works by artists who collected and championed him, and those whose practices reflect his wider legacy, Alfred Wallis: An Artist’s Artist considers his lasting influence on modernist approaches to perspective, form, colour and composition.

 

On loan from Jerwood Collection:

John Wells (1907–2000), Vista, 1955

 

Alfred Wallis: An Artist’s Artist is at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, from 21 November 2026 – 2 May 2027.

 

For more information, please visit Pallant House Gallery. 

October 5, 2026