An introduction to the Newlyn School of painting by David Messum, November 2019
The portrayal of honest endeavour was a by-word for the artists settled within the Newlyn community. The older fishermen sitting on the beach playing chequers whilst their offspring were away with the boats fishing, waiting for their load to offload is typical of the subjects which were at the very heart of their work. Newlyn artists recorded the mood and tragedies of the villagers – there were losses at sea as well as losses from those young men who had gone to fight in the First World War.
Walter Langley
(1852 - 1922) was a great exponent of this type of emotion. His technical skill having initially studied as an engraver allowed him to portray in detail, these bittersweet subjects for which he is now highly prized.
The artists thought nothing of setting up their easels on the shore to capture the daily life in Newlyn. The most enduring quality of Cornwall was the unusual clarity of the light. Being the southernmost peninsula in the British Isles bought a pure and brilliant effect which gave more of a sense of the continental feel than many of the English coastal resorts.
The dogged determination of Stanhope Alexander Forbes (1857 - 1947) to paint his masterpiece ‘A Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach’ (now in Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery) is captured in a letter he wrote home in 1884
‘I sallied forth to have another go at the large picture. I got blown about and rained upon, my model fainted etc….painting outdoors in England is no joke and this picture will be a long weary job’.
'Plein air' painting involves being in front of the subject in the open air. To catch the moment the artist developed what was known as a square brush technique which allowed them to put in painted colour quickly in order to catch the moment before the sun moved around and the shadows changed. They worked in a manner which depicted the light reflecting off the subject and forming shapes rather than the more traditional approach of beginning with the outline of a solid shape. The square brush technique became regarded as a hallmark of the Newlyn painters.
It is difficult to imagine today that Stanhope Forbes now famous picture ‘A Fish sale on a Cornish Beach’ could be seen as revolutionary in its first exhibit at the RA in 1885. However, the stark realisation of the life led by these local folk, was a revelation to the people visiting the Royal Academy and it suddenly bought Newlyn to national prominence at a time when much of the Academy exhibits were of Neo-Classical subjects. This form of social realism is seen by many as a precursor to the school of British Impressionism which followed.
‘Fish sale..’ oh what an eye! Forbes - our very own Sorolla!