The Pier Arts Centre in Orkney was established in 1978 to house a superlative collection that charts the development of British modernism, gathered by author, peace activist and philanthropist Margaret Gardiner. Her interest was deeply influenced by her friendship with the artist Barbara Hepworth; she was a key supporter of the artists drawn to St Ives, and a lover of Orkney, at the other end of the British Isles. The collection has grown through gifts and purchases and now numbers over 150 works. This catalogue, with texts by Nicholas Serota, Mel Gooding, Neil Firth, Margaret Gardiner, Patrick Heron and Alan Bowness, illustrates every work in the collection, and includes artists profiles and comments by Gardiner on individual works.