Cliffs and Bays of North Cornwall. These are views taken from the cliff walk between Tintagel and Boscastle. "By reason of its coast scenery," Arthur Salmon writes, "Cornwall can claim to be one of the most beautiful counties of England.... The charm of its coast is certainly unsurpassed, if not unrivalled" (2). Artists have always been drawn here: fishing villages like St Ives, which is about sixty miles further down the north coast; Newlyn, a little further on from St Ives, and Falmouth, about thirty miles from Newlyn on the south coast, are particularly known for their colonies of painters. But everywhere along the coast attracts them, not only for the scenery but for the quality of the light. As an example, members of the Newlyn School included Henry Herbert La Thangue, Thomas Cooper Gotch, Walter Langley and Henry Scott Tuke.
One of the most prominent artists of the Newlyn School, often called its "father," was Stanhope A. Forbes (1857-1947), who wrote, in an article for the Cornish Magazine, "It will always be a debatable point how far it is necessary and wise for a painter to live and work in cities, in close touch with his contemporaries. I am perpetually being told that to London we must go, that it is the inevitable fate in store; yet I cannot but think that it was a healthy and sensible movement in Art, the formation of these little colonies of painters, clustering together in charming rural districts, whose beauty inspired their work and afforded them abundant material" (qtd. in Birch 26).
Photographs (1999), text and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee. You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web project or cite it in a print one. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Bibliography
Birch, Lionel (Mrs). Stanhope A. Forbes, A. R. A., and Elizabeth Stanhope Forbes, A.R.W.S.. London: Cassell, 1906. Internet Archive. Sponsored by the Kahl/Austin Foundation. Web. 5 January 2021.
Salmon, Arthur L. Cornwall. London: Methuen, 1903. Internet Archive. Contributed by University of California Libraries. Web. 5 January 2021.
Created 5 January 2021