Study Days
Please do get in touch if you'd like a whole day of talks: select subjects from my available single talks, or feel free to suggest a theme. Here are two 'ready made' days:
A Century of Art in Cornwall 1880 - 1980
Arguably no area of the British Isles has played a greater part in the history of western art than Cornwall. This Special Interest Day will take an in-depth look at the wealth of art produced in the area, revealing some of the extraordinary characters – both artists and models – behind the masterpieces, and the legacy of internationally-important art that continues to this day.
Lecture 1:
The Newlyn School (1880 – 1910)
The day starts by exploring the story of how a small fishing village became the nucleus for rural realist painting in Britain. Sumptuous images reveal the fascinating true stories of toil, tragedy, faith and kinship. Featuring Stanhope and Elizabeth Forbes, Frank Bramley, Walter Langley and Henry Scott Tuke, among many others in the ‘Brotherhood of the palette.’
Lecture 2:
The Lamorna Colony (1910 – 1940)
Moving into the C20th, a new generation of artists arrived in Newlyn, many settling just west of the village in the Lamorna valley. This second lecture focusses on the vibrant work and influential friendships of artists including pioneering women artists, Dame Laura Knight and Dod Procter; the charismatic and controversial Sir Alfred Munnings, and fellow painters such as SJ Lamorna Birch and Harold Harvey.
Lecture 3
St Ives Modernism and beyond (1940 – today)
Starting with Christopher Wood, Ben Nicholson and Alfred Wallis, the final talk looks at how a once sleepy seaside village became the global centre for modern art, shaping the direction of British painting for generations, and how it remains a mecca for artists, drawn by its unique light and wealth of creative culture.
Women of the West 1880 - 1980
Cornwall has been home to a host of extraordinary women artists over the past 150 years, including several who have redefined opportunities and achievements for their gender. Starting with a general introduction to some of the leading figures, the day then looks in detail at the life, work and impact of two outstanding painters.
Lecture 1:
Pioneering women painters
It is a little-known fact that the first artist to 'discover' Newlyn as a source of artistic inspiration was a woman, Caroline Burland Yates, later to become Mrs Thomas Cooper Gotch. This talk will explore some of the astonishing women who have pioneered a role for their gender as artists, from 'The Queen of Newlyn', Elizabeth Forbes, through her St Ives-based friends and contemporaries including Marianne Stokes and Helene Schjerfbeck, right through to C20th artists such as Dorothea Sharp, Rose Hilton and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham.
Lecture 2:
Dod Procter RA (1890 - 1972)
When Dod Procter's painting 'Morning' was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1922, it made her truly a household name. Christened as Doris Shaw, and part of a nationally-famous artistic power-couple with her husband, the painter Ernest Procter, Dod used her childhood nickname to confound the art world's ingrained chauvinism. Initially trained at Stanhope and Elizabeth Forbes's art school in Newlyn, she remained resident in West Cornwall for the rest of her life, though her travels included time in Burma and the Caribbean. This talk looks at her long career, astonishing oeuvre and significant influence.
Lecture 3
Dame Laura Knight RA
A true pioneer for her gender, Dame Laura Knight not only achieved a host of 'firsts' for a women artist, but became arguably Britain's most famous and best-loved artist of the mid-C20th. Her talent showed itself at a remarkably young age - she was just 15 when she enrolled at Nottingham School of Art - and remained with her throughout her remarkable and long life. Focussing primarily on her time in Cornwall, this talk also looks at her incredibly wide oeuvre, taking in ceramics and printmaking as well as painting, and subjects as diverse as circus and ballet to the Nuremburg Trials.
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