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In the Fishing Season by Walter Langley
Church Tower Rising From Downtown Penzance
CharlieNewlyn School of Painting
The advent of the railway in the nineteenth century made the distant areas far more accessible to everybody. But it was the quality of light and the low cost of living that attracted many artists. In France, they went to Concarneau and to Pont Aven in Brittany, in Britain they camel to Newlyn.
The first of the painters to settle in the town in 1882 was one of the greatest. Walter Langley had already established something of a reputation and his paintings are powerful depictions of the hardships suffered by the local population and particularly by the seafaring community. Although he used other mediums at times, Langley achieved marvellous effects with his unusual use of watercolours. Stanhope Forbes arrived in 1884 and quickly assumed the leadership of the community. by September 1884 'The Cornishman' newspaper noted that there were no less than twenty-seven artists residing in Newlyn.
The community dispersed towards the end of the century, although Stanhope Forbes founded a school in Newlyn for budding artists.
Today painting from the Newlyn School fetch large sums of money, but there are still many in the hands of local families since the painters used them to pay for services. No doubt many of the owners live in complete ignorance of the value of the painting hanging on their wall.
