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This unique social history of the St Ives art colony not only looks at the way
of life enjoyed by the artistic community, but also assesses, for the first
time, the impact of the artists on the town and the townsfolk.
In addition to well-known names, such as Adrian Stokes, Julius Olsson and
William Titcomb, there were many other long-term resident artists, who enjoyed
varying degrees of success in the art world, but who had much appreciated
talents in other directions, as, for instance, photographers, comic artists,
designers, architects, writers, musicians, actors or sportsmen. After
considering the surprising diversity of their backgrounds, the book looks at the
range of accomodation that the artists chose - from hotels, humble lodgings,
rented homes of varying standards and sizes, in and out of town, to
purpose-built architect-designed dream homes. It then looks extensively at the
wide range of old buildings in the fishing quarter that were commandeered for
studios - net lofts, music pavilions, mine engine houses etc, as well as the
complexes on Porthmeor, many of which have now proved to be purpose-built by
local entrepreneurs. The bulk of studios, however, were not designed for human
habitation and, despite the majesty of their locations, gave rise to
never-ending problems of leaking roofs, damp plaster and biting cold, not to
mention rats.
One London correspondent was so enamoured of his stay in the colony that he was
moved to exclaim “More genial, kindly, hospitable society does not exist”.
Simplicity of life, refinement and cultivated taste, love of outdoor nature, and
freedom from convention were, in his view, its principal attractions and,
unsurprisingly, writers and other practitioners of the Fine Arts soon settled in
the locality. The St Ives Arts Club, which, from the outset, was open to such
persons, and also to females, was the focal point of social activity and
promoted a good communal spirit. However, aware that they should not be seen as
an exclusive enclave, the artists put on many performances for the townspeople,
introducing them to Carnival Masquerades, tableaux vivants, glee singing and
variety entertainment. They also took leading roles in the establishment of
local sports clubs. A separate chapter also recreates student life in the
colony, as its Painting Schools gained world-wide renown.
The second half of the book looks at the way that the artists inter-related with
the local community and the impact that they had on the town commercially,
physically and culturally. It reveals how the artists dramatically transformed
the tourist season, influenced the type of tourist that came to St Ives, and
became tourist attractions in their own right. It also assesses the impact that
the artists had on local business and the ways in which local entrepreneurs
sought to satisy all the artists’ requirements. Whereas a number of leading
figures in the town felt that the presence of the artists had “broadened the
mental vision of the townsfolk” and many of the fisherfolk were happy to act as
models, not all locals welcomed the ‘Bohemian’ ways of the artists, and the book
discusses the problems that the artists had with various sections of the
community, particularly the most fervent Methodists, who labelled them
“paint-wasters”!
What is revealed is a multi-faceted story that has never been told before. No
true assessment of the achievements of the colony can be made without
understanding the extraordinary partnership that developed between locals and
artists. Indeed, one Mayor was moved to comment, “A locality can have no better
friend than an art colony”.
Range of Characters featured in Social History
The book’s index contains seventeen columns, comprising merely the names of
people featured! The following are just some of those who receive particular
attention.
Artistic Community
Will Ashton, Arthur Burgess, Emily Carr, Hayley Lever and Hilda Fearon (student
days), Will & Ka Arnold-Forster (‘Eagle’s Nest’, gardens, politics, first female
J.P.), Alfred Bailey (Atlantic Studio), Georgina Bainbridge (women’s rights &
community work), Eardley Blomefield (Pednolva Mine Studio), John Bromley (‘Quay
House’), Howard Russell Butler (first Porthmeor Studio, letter archive), Sydney
Carr (photographs, caricatures, homes and ‘Blue Bell Studio’), Nell Cuneo
(‘Downalong Studio’, plays), Stewart and Jessica Darmady (drama), Allan Deacon
(Virgin Street Studio, Arts Club & golf), John Douglas (photographs, comic
recitations, ‘Skidden House’ & Porthmeor studio), Thomas Millie Dow (‘Talland
House’ & studio), Lowell Dyer (homes, art, wit), William Eadie (‘Windy Parc’,
portrait commissions), Edith Ellis (Carbis Bay homes & letting cottages, lesbian
affairs, books), Havelock Ellis (controversial books on sex), Herbert
Fitzherbert (‘Fitz’) (caricatures), Moulton Foweraker (Spanish art tours, St
Ives Dramatic Society), Edmund Fuller (architectural designs, comic postcards,
metalwork, graphic design, bookplates, cricket, homes and studio), Louis Grier
(‘The Foc’sle’, Arts Club, studio tea parties, Library Loan Exhibition), Brian
Hatton (art student), William Hebblethwaite (campaign against animal cruelty),
Lewis Hind (art student, writings), Frances Hodgkins (Porthmeor Studio,
sketching restrictions), Wilson Henry Irvine (1923 Journal), Henry Keasbey
(Island Studios, Porthia Beagles), Lily Kirkpatrick (art, home & lesbian
affair), Albert Lang (golf, ‘Tremorna’ & ‘Dunvegan’, Carbis Bay), Herbert Lanyon
(music, photographs, community work, ‘Red House’ & ‘Attic Studios’), Count Georg
Larisch (oceanographer from Bavarian Royal Family & suspected spy), Bernard
Leach (Pottery & talks), Moffat Lindner (homes, incl. ‘Chy-an-Porth’, saviour of
Porthmeor Studios, golf, cards & community work), Will Lloyd, (‘St Eia’, music),
Charles Marriott (literary figures & reminiscences), Greville Matheson (library
at ‘Boskerris Vean’, poems, plays & editorship of newspaper), Arthur Meade
(‘Godrevy’, Porthmeor studio & golf), Fred Milner (‘Zareba’ & Piazza studios),
Robert Morton Nance (Cornish heritage & guise dance drolls), Julius Olsson (‘St
Eia’, Porthmeor and Harbour studios, painting school, J.P., golf & tennis),
Alfred Pazolt (‘Foreshore Studio’, sailing, Catholic Church), Charles Procter
(comic writer), Cyril Ranger-Gull (satire of colony), Henry Harewood Robinson
(music, Arts Club, J.P.), Helene Schjerfbeck (Tower Studio), Murielle Schofield
(the lot of an artist wife), Edgar Skinner (war allotments, Leach Pottery),
Leslie Stephen (writer, ‘Talland House’ & family), Folliott Stokes (novel, guide
books), William Titcomb (‘Windy Parc’, studios & politics), Frank Ver Beck
(comic work), Hanna Rion Ver Beck (twilight sleep), Whitehouse sisters (art,
letter archive & war work)
Local Community
Edward & Mrs Ashton (photographer, picnic grounds, guesthouse), Edward Boase
(Town Clerk), Martin Cock (newspaper proprietor, artists’ materials, gallery
etc), William Faull (Mayor, patron), Kathleen Frazier (musician), Reginald
Glanville (property agent, patron), Rev. Edward Griffin (St Johns-in-the-Fields,
patron), Mrs Griggs (Zennor guesthouse), Edward Hain (shipowner & patron), Capt
T Row Harry (Mayor), Maria Hendra (hotel proprietor), Mary and Edith John
(romance), Canon Jones, Rev. Francis Marsh, Bernard Walke, Joe Hellier (Parish
Church), James Lanham (artists’ materials, gallery etc), Michael Nicholls &
George Staff (doctors), James Read (Bank Manager), Robert S. Read (Mayor,
shipowner & patron), William Paynter (purpose-built studios), George Toman
(property agent), Robert Toy (developer), John H Tremayne (hotel with
billiards), William Trewhella and his sons (Mayor, romance), William Trevorrow
(photographer, music shop), Francis Wheeler (hotel owner, patron), James Uren
White (newspaper proprietor) George Williams (purpose-built studios), Colonel
Henry Williams (Mayor, patron)
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