Culture of Cornwall - Cornish Art

Cornish Art

See also List of Cornish artists, architects and craftspeople
Cornish people#Culture#Visual arts

So-called 'Celtic art' is found in Cornwall reflecting its ancient Brythonic heritage, often in the form of Celtic crosses erected early in the development of sacred enclosures (Lan) of early Cornish Saints from Wales, Ireland, and Brittany resulted in a shared cultural inheritance which particularly includes the post-Roman corpus of literature relating to King Arthur and Tristan and Iseult, presumed nobility of ancient Dumnonia. Cornwall boasts the highest density of traditional 'Celtic crosses' of any nation, and medieval holy wells are particularly prevalent. The destruction of monastic institutions such as Glasney College and Crantock during the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536–45) is often regarded as the death knell of independence in Cornish language and culture; the very few remaining Cornish language manuscripts, including the miracle plays Beunans Ke and Beunans Meriasek are thought to have originated at these ancient centres of academic excellence. After the First World War, many crosses were erected as war memorials and also to celebrate events such as the millennium.

Cornwall and its dramatic landscape and distinctive remoteness have produced and inspired many later artists. John Opie was the first Cornish-born artist of note and J. M. W. Turner visited in 1811. A number of London artists settled in the Newlyn area in the 1880s, following the building of the Great Western Railway, who went on to form the Newlyn School.

Sickert and Whistler both visited St Ives at the end of the 19th century, and the internationally famous studio potter, Bernard Leach set up his pottery in the town in 1920 St. Ives. In 1928 Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood visited the town and met Alfred Wallis the naive painter, native to St Ives, who was to become an important influence on a generation of British artists: particularly those who were members of the Seven and Five Society.

At the outbreak of World War II Nicholson came to live in St Ives with his wife Barbara Hepworth; staying initially with the philosopher and writer Adrian Stokes (critic) and his wife Margaret Mellis. Naum Gabo also joined them there as well as artists who at the time were at an earlier stage in their careers: John Wells, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Terry Frost and Bryan Wynter. Other artists of international repute joined the colony later: notably Patrick Heron, Roger Hilton and Sandra Blow.

There are still a lot of artists in Cornwall many associated with the Newlyn Society of Artists. Artists led projects like PALP and artsurgery have also been important in the 21st century.

Cornwall has a dedicated online art journal called artcornwall.org.