Art on the Beach

Maybe that should be a name for a new cocktail…

However art and beach go superbly well together at the Tate St.Ives, where the second part of the “Dawn of a Colony” exhibition is: “Picturing the West, St.Ives 1811-1888″.

Before one even sees any paintings, the Tate building itself is inspiring. Ascend the steps into the outdoor rotunda, which captures and tosses about the sounds of the waves, and you feel as though you are part of the sea.

Once inside, through the hall with the Parick Heron window and into the quiet galleries, the early paintings from the St.Ives colony are as beautiful and thought-provoking as the ones in Penlee House. The pieces are not as large as in the other exhibition, but incorporate paintings and sketches by such artists as J.M.W.Turner, James Whistler, Walter Sickert, Anders Zorn and Stanhope Forbes to name a few. Awe-inspiring.

And always one is aware of the surfers and the tents on the beach just outside, which is brought into the gallery by the huge, curved windows. A fantastic mix!

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Artist Colony

West Penwith is littered with excellent art! Thank goodness Plum and I are here for a while.

Currently there is a wonderful exhibition on at the Penlee House in Penzance – “Dawn of a Colony : Lyrical Light (St Ives 1889 – 1914)”. The setting of a Victorian house perfectly complements the paintings, some of which are huge. It is an exhibition curated by the St.Ives art historian David Tovey and is well worth a visit.
Sometimes it seems a struggle to find Fine Art from this area and this collection certainly satisfies that need.
I am usually wildly excited to find one painting from St.Ives when visiting galleries around the world. Today was like finding cherry after cherry!
I am looking forward to seeing the other part of the exhibition soon at the Tate St.Ives.

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For the other end of the artwork spectrum, Plum and I went from Penzance to Marazion , which is filled with little galleries brimming with more recent art; paintings, ceramics, glass, clothing (especially the scrumptious Lizzie Shirt clothes for children), jewellery, lobster pots (yes, I am still waiting for mine!)…
Particular favourites are the Avalon and Seagrove galleries as well as Michael Pread’s… and not forgetting, of course, Out of the Blue which has got another excellent exhibition of Glyn Macey paintings. Now, which one don’t I want…?

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So much art calls for more tea by the sea … and ice cream that could only be found down here: