Sir Terry Frost (1915-2003) was a British abstract painter known for his geometric patterns. He lived and worked in Newlyn, Cornwall but didn’t pursue art until he was in his thirties. Whilst incarcerated in a prisoner of war camp in Germany in 1943, Frost met painter Adrian Heath who encouraged him to explore his artistic side. Frost hailed this discovery a “religious experience” that he attributed to his “heightened perception during starvation”.
Sir Terry Frost (1915-2003) was a British abstract painter known for his geometric patterns. He lived and worked in Newlyn, Cornwall but didn’t pursue art until he was in his thirties. Whilst incarcerated in a prisoner of war camp in Germany in 1943, Frost met painter Adrian Heath who encouraged him to explore his artistic side. Frost hailed this discovery a “religious experience” that he attributed to his “heightened perception during starvation”.
His recognisable geometric style is inspired by the light and shapes of the Cornish countryside. Frost's art prints are full of colour and light, which reflect his gratitude and the pleasure of existence at having survived wartime incarceration.
Using his serviceman’s grant to train as an artist after the war, Frost studied at Camberwell School of Art. He eventually settled in Cornwall where he worked as an assistant to Barbara Hepworth and retained a strong connection with the Newlyn School of Art for the rest of his career. Frost’s work was exhibited regularly in both London and New York. His work is held in the permanent collections of a variety of major galleries from the Tate Gallery and British Museum in London to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In 1992 he was deemed a Royal Academician, and the RA held a major retrospective of his work Terry Frost: Six Decades in 2000. He received a knighthood in 1998.