CANNEY, MICHAEL (British, 1923-1999)

Michael Canney was born in Falmouth. He initially studied at Redruth and Penzance Schools of Art and St. Ives School of Painting under Leonard Fuller and in 1947-51, after army service, at Goldsmiths' College School of Art. He exhibited regularly in group exhibitions in Britain and abroad. His later one man shows included Newlyn Art Gallery in 1983, Prescote Art and Design in Edinburgh in 1984 and Belgrave Gallery in 1990. Plymouth City Art Gallery and several other public collections hold examples of his work.

Michael Canney was associated with the Newlyn and St. Ives schools, both as student and teacher, and in 1956 was appointed curator of the Newlyn Orion Gallery. During his lifetime he also taught at Plymouth College of Art and was appointed lecturer at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His circle of friends included Scott, Nicholson, Vaughan, Hilton and Lanyon. Canney was unusual amongst his contemporaries in so far as he was an indigenous Cornishman. Since Canney's death he has become the subject of increasing critical attention and acclaim