George LAMBOURN
Lambourn was born in London and studied at Goldsmith's College and the RA Schools between 1921-26. In 1936, when on a tour of the West Country, he discovered the fishing village of Mousehole near Penzance, and when a disused school came up for sale he bought it and converted it into his studio home.
The story of his life during WWII, and the happenstance creation of the Army Decorating Section by Lambourn, then his return to the school-turned-theatre (Merlin Theatre, Mousehole) through which he involved the community in the works of Shakespeare, is told in 100 Years in Newlyn. From 1970, he and his family moved to St Just. John Halkes, NAG curator, wrote the biographical monograph, George Lambourn (1900-1977) to accompany a celebratory exhibition of the artist's paintings and drawings held at the Newlyn Art Gallery in 1982.
media
Painter in watercolours and oils; muralist, art therapist and writer
works and access
Works include: Penberth Cove - Cornwall; Portrait of a Communist; Calais, 26th May 1940; Died of Wounds; Test Pilots (Hardie, Illus); Flower Piece (illus in PCF); Sweat and Toil (1963) (illus in PCF)
Access to works: Tate; Imperial War Museum; Cornwall Council
The WCAA was given one of his handmade and illustrated fairytales, a story of The Mermaid, by his widow.
exhibitions
Matthiessen Gallery 1936-38
NAG Retrospective 1982
memberships
NSA
misc further info
references
Personal biography
Halkes (1982) George Lambourn (1900-1977) (monograph accompanying NAG Retrospective)
General
Hardie (1995) 100 Years in Newlyn: Diary of a Gallery (pp91, pl p92)
Hardie (2009) Artists in Newlyn and West Cornwall;
Public Catalogue Foundation (PCF) Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly: Oil Paintings in Public Ownership
Whybrow (1994) St Ives/ Portrait of an Art Colony;