Vagaries of The Weather over Time across Mount's Bay...

I came across this small painting at the Tate Britain last year; it immediately caught my attention and drew me in. Without even looking at its title or the name of the artist, I instinctively knew that it was a Cornish landscape with that distinctive but impossible-to-define light and unique atmosphere. Peering at the work, I even had the impression of familiarity so you can imagine my surprise, or perhaps lack of it, when I learnt that this was Mount’s Bay and Tolcarne, painted in c.1898 by Norman Garstin, one of Newlyn School of painters.

I even imagined I knew from which vantage point it was painted and so through it relived the invigorating feeling of looking down across the bay. Although over a century has passed since the artist captured the dramatic view stretched out before him and furthermore his position was closer to Newlyn than Madron, it did remind of being in the area in the summer... This is certainly a far cry from the work for which Garstin is perhaps best-known, in Penzance at least; The Rain It Raineth Every Day (1889). However both are equally representative of the weather in the region! The work is on display in Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance.