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Visit Penlee House & Museum

Penlee House is a Gallery, Museum, Cafe and Shop. Situated within Penlee Park, a space to reflect and great for family visits.

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A space for exhibitions & events

Alongside our Exhibition programme we run a variety of community events and workshops. The Newlyn School and Social history galleries change often. Find out what’s on.

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A space to learn

Penlee House is committed to lifelong learning. We run workshops for all age groups and offer a school workshop programme.

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A space for all

Built in 1865, as the home of the Branwell family. Penlee House is home to many paintings by members of the Newlyn School. It is also home to the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society collection.

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You can search and browse our collections online. We also have a section dedicated to the Newlyn School.

Bourdillon, Frank Wright

Best known for his dramatic historical reconstructions, such as the painting ‘Duel On Bideford Sands’ (Sydney Art Gallery), Bourdillon also produced some fine Newlyn School paintings during his brief artistic career.

Biography

Frank Wright Bourdillon – 1851 – 1924

Bourdillon’s career as an artist spanned only twelve years. Born in India, the son of a civil servant, he started his working life as a coffee planter and began painting as a hobby, recording India’s exotic birdlife. Encouraged by a friend, he left India to study art, first at the Slade, London, followed by a year (1883-4) in Paris.

Returning to England in November 1884, Bourdillon moved to Oxford, where he began to paint in earnest with the aim of exhibiting at the Royal Academy; his first work was accepted there in 1886. In May that year, Bourdillon moved to Cornwall, living first at Polperro and arriving in Newlyn early in 1887.

In Newlyn, Bourdillon continued to paint pictures aimed at the Royal Academy, meeting with only occasional success. Influenced by the Newlyn ethos, he painted a few interior ‘social realist’ genre scenes using the ‘square brush’ technique, of which ‘The Jubilee Hat’ is perhaps the best example. He felt that costume work was his true metier, however, typified by his famous ‘Duel on Bideford Sands’ of 1890 (Sydney Art Gallery).

A popular member of the Newlyn colony, Bourdillon remained here for five years, leaving both the village and his painting career in 1892 to return to India, this time as a Christian missionary, and painting only one more known work before his death, in Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, in 1924.

Portfolio

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Visit Us

Penlee House is a beautiful art gallery and museum, set within sub-tropical gardens, with a great café.

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Exhibitions

Our vibrant exhibition programme celebrates the nationally important art and history of West Cornwall.

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Learning

From school visits to family activities, talks and walks, there are plenty of learning opportunities at Penlee House.

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Our Café

Enjoy a delicious lunch or coffee at the Orangery Café, with its sunny terrace overlooking the park.

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