Category Archives: Newlyn

The Newlyn Artists – Pt 3 Stanhope and Elizabeth Forbes and Other Artists

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The Newlyn Artists - Pt 3 Stanhope and Elizabeth Forbes and Other Artists

My previous two posts about Walter Langley and Edwin Harris show how the Newlyn art colony began, but from little acorns mighty oak trees grow as they say, and today’s final post on Newlyn is about how a small group of artists blossomed into a highly acclaimed school.

Both artists were influenced by the French en plein air style, and it was on Harris’s second trip to Brittany in 1882 that he first met the Canadian artist, Elizabeth Armstrong in Pont-Aven.

Born in Ontario in 1859, Elizabeth, accompanied by her mother, moved to London to study at the South Kensington Art School, and after completing further studies in New York and Munich, sought inspiration for her work in Brittany and Holland. After returning to England, mother and daughter headed down to Newlyn where Langley and Harris had been joined by Stanhope Forbes, Frank Bramley and others, and it was Edwin Harris who introduced Elizabeth to Stanhope Forbes at Cliff Castle Cottage.

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Originally posted 2025-03-02 16:02:03.

The Newlyn Artists – Pt 2 Edwin Harris and the Birmingham Boys

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The Newlyn Artists - Pt 2 Edwin Harris and the Birmingham Boys

In Part 1, I described how Birmingham artist Walter Langley adopted Newlyn as his home with the objective of creating everyday scenes similar to the French artists who painted en plein air. Being the first notable artist to settle in the port, he is generally regarded as founder of the art colony known as the Newlyn School – but there was another contender.

Langley’s artistic career began at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) where he became a close friend of Edwin Harris, who also decided to take his palettes down to Newlyn. Harris was born at Ladywood in 1855 and entered Birmingham School of Art at the age of 14, and apart from Walter Langley, his fellow colleagues included William John Wainright and William Breakspeare: All four of them were involved in forming the Birmingham Art Circle whose objective was to give encouragement to younger artists, but their close association also meant that the ‘Birmingham Boys’ would all end up down at Newlyn.

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Originally posted 2025-02-17 15:49:11.

The Newlyn Artists – Pt 1 Walter Langley And The Founding Of The Newlyn School

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The Newlyn Artists - Pt 1 Walter Langley And The Founding Of The Newlyn School

Cornish fishing harbours are a magnet for tourists, but Newlyn has never really been one of them. While St Ives on the opposite side of the Penwith Peninsula attracts plenty of visitors (some say too many at times), Newlyn may just get a handful drop in on their way from Penzance to Mousehole.

I don’t think it bothers the good people of Newlyn too much though because they’re more interested in trying to earn a living from the main business of fishing, and which is why you’re more likely to find a down to earth pub full of raucous fishermen drinking copious amounts of ‘Proper Job’ rather than a sophisticated wine bar occupied by ‘ladies who lunch’ sipping the odd glass of Chardonnay.

Newlyn may not have attracted as many tourists as St Ives, but it has attracted as many artists (and I’m not talking about the drinking variety now): In actual fact, artists arrived here to paint en plein air quite a while before the St Ives school was established, and if you’re interested in reading more about the art scene in St Ives you can find it in my post Have you Seen the Light?

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Originally posted 2025-02-09 09:37:31.

Newlyn – Pt 2 The Port Survives Stormy Times And They Weren’t All At Sea

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Newlyn - Pt 2 The Port Survives Stormy Times And They Weren't All At Sea

In Pt 1, we saw how Newlyn Harbour developed from a small quay in Gwavas Lake during the Middle Ages to how it roughly appears today, but other improvements had been taking place as well. Before the North and South Piers had been completed, a road was built along the Strand that separated the communities of Newlyn Town and Street-an-Towan, and then a timber Trawl Pier was constructed next to the Strand road where fishermen could land their catch directly onto shore.

To assist the fishermen and those organizing the running of the harbour, several buildings were constructed including a covered fish market, ice works, harbour commissioner’s office and fishermen’s mission. Below are some images of the Strand today, but it’s worth noting that the road is primarily taken up with the everyday workings of the fishing business.

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Originally posted 2025-01-31 08:10:50.

Newlyn – Pt 1 Pilchards and Piers

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Newlyn - Pt 1 Pilchards and Piers

Newlyn lies in Mounts Bay just a thirty minute walk along the Promenade from Penzance Harbour. It belongs to the parish of Penzance and the two towns are often officially referred to as Penzance and Newlyn, but they’re really quite different in character. Whereas Penzance can be regarded as a fairly quiet holiday town, Newlyn is one of the largest fishing ports in England, if not the largest.

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Originally posted 2025-01-26 09:21:51.