Patrick Heron (1920-99) was one of the leading British artists of his generation, and an important figure in the development of post-war abstract art. Working and living in Cornwall for most of his creative life, he was closely associated with the St Ives artists including Ben Nicholson, William Scott and Roger Hilton.

Above all, Heron was obsessed by colour and light, and in a long succession of beautiful paintings he pursued his vision of an art that would reclaim as its true subject 'the reality of the eye'. This book is the first to examine in detail the progress of Heron's career and to set it within the context of his life and times. It is established as the leading monograph, featuring a sensitive and encompassing approach to the painter's thoughts and feelings, as well as simply the work itself.