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THE ST. IVES ARTISTS St. Ives has been a source of artistic interest for many centuries. The earliest known pictorial record was by Joseph Farington in 1809. He was a student of Richard Wilson, who was well known as a topographical artist. One of the most prolific artists of the same period was William Daniell who made numerous drawings and engravings of the Land's End and its surrounding area. Probably the most famous artist to depict St. Ives was Joseph Mallord William Turner who visited Cornwall in 1811 and again two years later. These sketches, which showed changing weather conditions, influenced many of the artists who followed. Around the same time as Walter Langley and Stanhope Forbes were establishing themselves in Newlyn, James McNeil Whistler and Walter Sickert were staying in St. Ives. They spent the winter of 1883 sketching the sea, sky and beach in a loose impressionistic style. Artists came to St. Ives from countries as far away as America, Scandinavia and even Australia to study the coastline, made beautiful by the ever-changing light and moods of the sea. 1888 saw the emergence of an Artist's Club, which enabled painters of the sea such as Julius Olsson, Arnesby Brown, Adrian Stokes and Algernon Talmage, to get together and discuss different techniques for capturing the essence of the wild and rugged north coast of Cornwall. |
