Falmouth and Art
The rich artistic heritage of the Fal area has played an important part in Cornwall’s international reputation for the arts. J.M.W Turner visited Falmouth in 1811 and was arguably the first artist to capture the special Cornish light that continues to inspire great artists today.
Charles Napier Hemy, Henry Scott Tuke and William Ayerst Ingram were all Falmouth based and their reputation as artists attracted visiting painters of the quality of John Singer Sargent and James McNeill Whistler. Ben Nicholson stayed at Pill Creek on the Fal, and during a day trip to St Ives discovered Alfred Wallis – an event that changed modern British painting.
In 1937 the Surrealists stayed at Lambe Creek on the Fal river, including Eileen Agar, Paul and Nusch Éluard, Max Ernst, Henry Moore, Man Ray and Dorothea Tanning. Today artists of international reputations are attracted to the area including Tacita Dean, Kurt Jackson, Richard Long and David Nash.
