Cornish Art Downunder (1880 - 1980)

Why are there so many works of art depicting Cornwall in the galleries of the Southern hemisphere? This lecture by art historian Catherine Wallace, gives us the answer to this question and a glimpse of the diverse range of works that can be seen in public collections in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. 

Wallace looks at the work by British artists who either sold their works to these galleries at the time or were bequeathed later by private collectors and philanthropists such as Alfred De Pass. These British artists include many who were based in Cornwall such as T.C.Gotch, W.A. Ingram, H.S.Tuke, Elizabeth and Stanhope Forbes, Charles N. Hemy, S. J Lamorna Birch, Charles Simpson and Dame Laura Knight. 

Cornwall was also a magnet for artists from the southern hemisphere to come and paint. It is not surprising therefore to find Cornish subjects in the Southern hemisphere collections created by Australian artists such as Richard Hayley Lever, Charles Bryant and David Davies and from New Zealand artists such as Eleanor Hughes and Frances Hodgkins. 

Some of these art galleries have continued add to their collections with art work by modern artists in Cornwall such as Richard Eurich, Alfred Wallis, Christopher Wood, Bill Scott, John Tunnard and Dame Barbara Hepworth.

Catherine Wallace is a freelance art historian, author, curator and lecturer specialising in British art with a focus on artists in Cornwall 1880 to the present day. www.cathwallace.co.uk

Tickets: £12

A £1 Poly Fund payment is added to each ticket sold

Image Used: A Haven Beneath the Hill, St Ives c.1908 by Richard Hayley-Lever (Australian) 1876 - 1958 © National Gallery of Australia