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Cornish Fishermen, The Quay, St Ives by Christopher Wood
Cornish Fishermen, The Quay, St Ives
Cornish Fishermen, The Quay, St Ives by Christopher Wood
Cornish Fishermen, The Quay, St Ives by Christopher Wood

Cornish Fishermen, The Quay, St Ives

Artist (Knowsley, England, 1901 - 1930)
Date1928
Mediumoil on canvas
ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings
DimensionsOverall: Height: 64 cm, Width: 76.4 cm
Frame: Height: 87.7 cm, Width: 100 cm
AcquisitionPurchased in 1977 with assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions and with income from the Lyon Bequest and the Murray Fund.
CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDAG000003
About MeChristopher Wood's association with St Ives began in 1926 when he visited Cornwall for the first time with his friends Ben and Winifred Nicholson. There Wood experienced a simple, uncluttered lifestyle quite unlike that of his years spent in Paris, where he had been surrounded by the intelligentsia of the day, including Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau.

Christopher Wood was especially enchanted by Cornwall. Letters to his mother (whose family were Cornish) reveal Wood's delight in the countryside and its people;

"the coastland is arid with huge rocks and towering black cliffs, and little coves and creeks with the greenest water you ever saw, with little white cottages clinging like wild flowers to the rocks". For Wood, seeking as he was simplicity and even primitivism, the enduring qualities of this unchanging landscape were enthralling.

Wood returned to St Ives in September 1928 and encountered there a retired seaman turned painter, Alfred Wallis. Inspired by Wallis' work Wood approached the seascapes and town views of the Cornish coastline with fresh eyes, adopting a deliberately naïve approach.

Of the Cornish fishermen Wood wrote;
"they look like pirates with big jack boots up to their thighs and skin hats with wings to them like Mercury". There is certainly a whimsical feeling to the lolling men, who seem still to be finding their land legs and roll like the toy-like boats on the choppy waves. They appear somewhat comical in their odd hats, and give the scene a gaiety and festive feel.


More About Me
Wood was fascinated by Cornwall and its inhabitants. He thought the fishermen looked like "pirates with big jack boots up to their thighs and skin hats with wings like Mercury"