The Newlyn School was an art colony of artists based in or near Newlyn, a fishing village adjacent to Penzance, on the south coast of Cornwall, from the 1880s until the early twentieth century. The establishment of the Newlyn School was reminiscent of the Barbizon School in France, where artists fled Paris to paint in a more pure setting emphasising natural light. These schools along with a related California movement were also known as En plein air.
Some of the first British artists to settle in the area had already travelled in Brittany, but found in Newlyn a comparable English environment with a number of things guaranteed to attract them: fantastic light, cheap living, and the availability of inexpensive models. The artists were fascinated by the fishermen's working life at sea and the everyday life in the harbour and nearby villages. Some paintings showed the hazards and tragedy of the community's life, such as women anxiously looking out to sea as the boats go out, or a young woman crying on hearing news of a disaster. Walter Langley is generally recognised as the pioneer of the Newlyn art colony and Stanhope Forbes, who settled there in 1884, as the father of it. The local newspaper (The Cornishman) was positive about the artists, reporting that the area had much to thank them for ″... circulating money, ...″, and ″... are ever ready to assist in anything which pertains to the welfare of the town.″ [1]
The later Forbes School of Painting, founded by Forbes and his wife Elizabeth in 1899, promoted the study of figure painting. A present-day Newlyn School of Art was formed in 2011 with Arts Council funding providing art courses taught by many of the best-known artists working in Cornwall today.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Lamorna, a nearby fishing village to the south, became popular with artists of the Newlyn School and is particularly associated with the artist S J "Lamorna" Birch who lived there from 1908.
Newlyn School painters include:
For a full list see: George Bednar. Every Corner was a Picture: A checklist compiled for the West Cornwall Art Archive of 50 artists from the early Newlyn School painters through to the present. ISBN 1-872229-36-0
Samuel John "Lamorna" Birch, RA, RWS was an English artist in oils and watercolours. At the suggestion of fellow artist Stanhope Forbes, Birch adopted the soubriquet "Lamorna" to distinguish himself from Lionel Birch, an artist who was also working in the area at that time.
Lamorna is a village, valley and cove in west Cornwall, England, UK. It is on the Penwith peninsula approximately 4 miles (6 km) south of Penzance. Lamorna became popular with the artists of the Newlyn School, including Alfred Munnings, Laura Knight and Harold Knight, and is also known for former residents Derek and Jean Tangye who farmed land and wrote "The Minack Chronicles".
Newlyn is a seaside town and fishing port in south-west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the largest fishing port in England.
Thomas Cooper Gotch or T. C. Gotch (1854–1931) was an English painter and book illustrator loosely associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement; he was the brother of John Alfred Gotch, the architect.
Stanhope Alexander Forbes was a British artist and a founding member of the influential Newlyn school of painters. He was often called 'the father of the Newlyn School'.
Albert Chevallier Tayler was an English artist who specialised in portrait and genre painting, but was also involved in the plein air methods of the Newlyn School. He studied at Heatherley's School of Art, Royal Academy Schools and with avant-garde painters in Paris. He was educated at Bloxham School in Oxfordshire.
Walter Langley was an English painter and founder of the Newlyn School of plein air artists.
Edwin Harris (1855–1906) was an English painter from Ladywood, Birmingham.
Penlee House is a museum and art gallery located in the town of Penzance in Cornwall, and is home to a great many paintings by members of the Newlyn School, including many by Stanhope Forbes, Norman Garstin, Walter Langley and Lamorna Birch. Penlee House is currently operated by Penzance Town Council in association with Cornwall Council. Well-known works from the renowned Newlyn School include The Rain It Raineth Every Day by Norman Garstin, School is Out by Elizabeth Forbes, Among the Missing by Walter Langley and On Paul Hill by Stanhope Forbes.
Elizabeth Adela Forbes was a Canadian painter who was primarily active in the UK. She often featured children in her paintings and School Is Out is one of her most popular works. She was friends with the artists James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Walter Sickert, both of whom influenced her work. Her etchings in particular are said to show the influence of Whistler.
Harold Harvey (1874–1941) was a Newlyn School painter who painted scenes of working-class Cornish fishermen, farmers and miners and Cornish landscapes. He was born in Penzance and trained at the Penzance School of Arts under Norman Garstin and the Académie Julian in Paris (1894–1896).
Ella Louise Naper was an English jeweller, potter, designer and painter.
Geoffrey Sneyd Garnier (1889–1970) was an English artist and printmaker. He was born in Wigan, the son of Russell Montague Garnier, a writer. He was educated at Charterhouse School, and studied engineering in London.
Florence Carter-Wood was a British painter.
Sansom & Company are art publishers based in Bristol, England. The company specialises in modern British art, and particularly the painters and sculptors of the Cornish art colonies at Newlyn, Lamorna and St Ives. The company has published books on artists related to those colonies such as Lamorna Birch, Elizabeth Forbes, T.C. Gotch, Harold Harvey, Charles Simpson, Tom Early, Bryan Pearce and Alfred Wallis.
Newlyn Society of Artists, often abbreviated to NSA, is an artists association founded in 1896. It is based in Newlyn, Cornwall. It was founded by a group of local artists to organise exhibitions at the new Newlyn Art Gallery built by John Passmore Edwards, its members went on to be known as the 'Newlyn School'. It currently has between 85 - 140 members, who are professional artists who either live in, or have strong connections with the South West. According to their website, the membership is composed of artists working in contemporary media such as painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, video/digital, site specific and performance art.
Eleanor Mary Hughes, was a New Zealand landscape artist who mostly painted in watercolours. She settled and worked in Britain and became an active member of the Newlyn School of artists and the nearby Lamorna artists colony.
Ruth Simpson was a British artist who was an active member of the Newlyn School of artists and the Lamorna artists colony.
Gertrude Harvey was a British artist who was an active member of the Newlyn School of artists and a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy.
Marjorie Frances Bruford known as Midge Bruford was a British artist associated with the Newlyn School of artists. Although born in Eastbourne, Bruford was an active participant in several of the artist groups based in Cornwall throughout her adult life.
