One of the most satisfying snacks I’ve enjoyed this year came perched outside Silco – a peachy pink-painted restaurant with knockout cocktails at the quieter end of the St Ives harbour. The dish? Crab, chilli and spring onion-loaded fries.
As I sat in the sun, the tide rolling out, dogs splashing happily in the shallows and a 16th-century fisherman’s chapel on the pier to my left, it was hard to imagine a more idyllic scene.
St Ives has no shortage of such moments. One of the many joys of this coastal town is its concentration of superb, hyper-local food and drink spots.
Take St Eia, or example: a charmingly compact restaurant, wine bar and shop which also serves excellent coffee. Then there’s Palais Provisions, tucked beneath the garden of Barbara Hepworth’s former studio – a tiny hole-in-the-wall serving extraordinary ice cream.
The food might be sublime, but it’s the art – embedded in the higgledy-piggledy streets – that defines St Ives. Though it may seem an unlikely place for a world-class cultural movement, the town has a rich artistic history.
Inside Tate St Ives
Luke Hayes
Once a bustling fishing port, the harbour was filled with boats chasing mackerel, pilchard and herring. Today, more than 600,000 tourists visit each year, many drawn by the vibrant art scene.
Artists have long been inspired by the area’s rugged beauty and golden, luminous light. J.M.W. Turner visited in 1811. Sickert and Whistler followed in 1884.
As fishing declined at the end of the 19th century, the arrival of the railway brought an influx of artists and collectors.
Bernard Leach and his Japanese friend Shoji Hamada established the iconic Leach Pottery in 1920, while local mariner Alfred Wallis began creating his now-famous naïve port scenes in 1929.
The pre-war years saw abstract painter Ben Nicholson and sculptor Barbara Hepworth move to town, soon joined by Russian constructivist Naum Gabo. By the 1950s, a younger generation including Patrick Heron, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Terry Frost and Peter Lanyon had turned this sleepy Cornish cove into a crucible for British modernism.
Tate St Ives opened in 1993, cementing the town’s cultural importance. Its white art deco form rises above Porthmeor Beach – a location shared with surf schools and, occasionally, dolphins. The gallery is dramatic, magnetic and essential. From the café’s top-floor windows, the golden sand, blue sea and striped sky form a living triptych as captivating as anything on the walls.
Oliver Cowling
Oliver Cowling
This summer’s headline exhibition is Arise Alive by Liliane Lijn, running until 2 November. Spanning five decades of her work, the expansive show features key works by the artist whose wide-ranging practice includes sculpture, installation, painting, drawing, collage and video.
Here, Lijn explores three key themes that span her career: kinetic art, light and energy and feminism and the body. Early works on paper are followed by spinning cones emblazoned with words and letters and then by hollow, water-filled acrylic discs rotating on a platform. The gallery lights bounce off winged goddess figures and vibrating copper columns. Major piece Electric Bride, from 1989, is housed in a dark room and recites a poem in Japanese. It’s mesmerising and terrifying and based on the ancient Sumerian story about the goddess who descends to the underworld and her return to the light.
Running alongside is Soundings, a powerful film and sound installation by Emma Critchley, accompanied by live dance performances. The work delves into the mysteries and politics of the deep sea – timely, given current debates over seabed mining.
The permanent collection includes major works by the St Ives School as well as international titans like Mondrian, Kandinsky and Picasso. Just along the beach sits Porthmeor Studios – the oldest studio complex in Britain – still housing working artists today.
With more than 40 galleries in town, there’s plenty to explore. Penwith Gallery and Anima Mundi are excellent places to discover the area’s contemporary talent. The Barbara Hepworth Museum at Trewyn Studio – where she lived and worked from 1949 until her death in 1975 – offers a magical glimpse into her life. Her sculptures populate the subtropical garden, while paintings, carvings and drawings are exhibited inside.
© Bowness / Kirstin Prisk
Further uphill lies the Leach Pottery. The original kiln and workshop are preserved as a museum, with new works by today’s ceramicists on display in the adjacent studio.
Of course, all this art and walking builds an appetite. Luckily, West Cornwall’s culinary scene is thriving.
Porthminster Beach Café, a stone’s throw from the station, serves seafood with some of the best coastal views in the country.
he Sloop Inn on the harbour, dating from 1312, remains a favourite of both locals and artists.
Near the lifeboat station, Onzo does excellent pizza and memorable sides – the meatballs were standout.
For a more elevated experience, head to Adam Handling’s Ugly Butterfly in nearby Carbis Bay. It’s just minutes by train – a journey that’s worth it for the sweeping views alone.
Bathed in the romantic glow of golden light, framed by whitewashed cottages and turquoise shallows, it’s easy to see why this part of Cornwall continues to enchant and inspire.
Liliane Lijn: Arise Alive is at Tate St Ives, Porthmeor Beach until 2 November 2025. Free for Tate members. Tickets available at tate.org.uk or via +44 207 887 8730.
