Western Cornwall has been a magnet for artists and tourists alike for more than 130 years.  The introduction of the railway in 1876 brought the first tourists, while artists gathered in neaby Newlyn from the late nineteenth century and then in St Ives from the late 1930s.  The artistice community grew steadily during the subsequent decades until it attracted the attention of the international art world in the 1950s.  The so-called St Ives school has no coherent style or manifesto; while many artists were committed to abstraction, others pursued a more figurative path.  The uniting factor is that all were in some way or another affected by the landscape and light at the westernmost tip of Britain.

Peter Lanyon, Soaring Flight, 1960, From the collection of: Arts Council Collection
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Ship in Rough Sea, Alfred Wallis, From the collection of: Arts Council Collection
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Trawler, Alfred Wallis, circa 1925, From the collection of: Arts Council Collection
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Westmorland Landscape, Christopher Wood, From the collection of: Arts Council Collection
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Spring, Barbara Hepworth, 1966, From the collection of: Arts Council Collection
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Reconstruction, Barbara Hepworth, 1947, From the collection of: Arts Council Collection
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Grindelwald Glacier, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, 1950, From the collection of: Arts Council Collection
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May 1956 (hendrifter), Ben Nicholson, 1956, From the collection of: Arts Council Collection
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1932 (Bocque), Ben Nicholson, 1932, From the collection of: Arts Council Collection
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Tristan and Isolde in Cornwall, Patrick Hayman, 1965, From the collection of: Arts Council Collection
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1946 (still life), Ben Nicholson, 1946, From the collection of: Arts Council Collection
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Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions (listed below) who have supplied the content.
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