Singular sensation

Prunella Clough; Harry Thubron: Collages and Constructions 1972–1984

It was a privilege to be a member of the jury that gave Prunella Clough (1919–99) the Jerwood Prize for Painting in 1999. On the one hand, we wanted to draw attention to the fact that she was an immensely distinguished painter who had remained largely unknown and publicly unrewarded during a long career, and on the other we wished to recognise the high quality of her latest work, some of the finest she’d ever done. In many ways, Prunella was her own worst enemy, being of a modest and self-effacing temperament, much given to doubting her very real achievements. She had enough private money not to worry about selling work, which also made her keep her prices low, much to the fury of contemporaries who had to earn their living by the brush. But she was consistently generous to others in greater need than herself, giving substantial sums often anonymously to art schools and to individuals.