Joanna Commings was born in London and moved to Cornwall in 2002. She has exhibited at the Camel Valley Gallery.
St Ives Town Council have one painting entitled St Ives Harbour (oil on canvas) in their permanent collection, by this otherwise unknown artist. Information gladly received.
Born at Withiel in Torpoint, Cornwall, Condy was the son of Nicholas Condy of Mevagissey and his wife, Elizabeth Thomas. He became a professional painter after serving in the Peninsular War (1811-1818). In 1814 he married Ann Trevanion Pyle in Stoke Damerel, Devon, where they made their home (Plymouth).
He specialised in landscape painting and coastal scenes in watercolours, which he produced on tinted paper to a standard size. His best known painting is at Mount Edgcumbe in Cornwall (The Court Dinner at Cotehele), and he published a book of his watercolours about Cotehele (now a National Trust property).
His son was Nicholas Matthew CONDY, also a landscape painter and teacher, who pre-deceased his father.
The son of a painter, Nicholas CONDY, Nicholas was educated in Exeter at Mount Radford School, going on to be a pupil of the Reverend C Thomas. Despite displaying an early talent for painting, young Nicholas was intended for a career in the military. However, he rejected this in favour of professional marine painting. Encouragingly, his work had attracted the early admiration of the Earl of Egremont, JMW TURNER's patron.
With a sending-in address of Plymouth, the artist participated as a 'Professional Artist' in the Cornwall Polytechnic Society's Annual Exhibition in 1834 (RCPS that year). His oil painting Marine Views won the First Prize (Silver Medal) that year. Again in 1841 he was awarded the First Prize in oils at the RCPS.
Although he exhibited at the RA in London between 1842 and 1845 (three sea pieces), Condy remained in Plymouth. He became an established and successful artist associated above all with seascapes and marine scenes. His work features the local Devon countryside, such as Ships off Devonport and The Post Office Packet Shelldrake off Falmouth (both in the National Maritime Museum, London). His proximity from early childhood to the port and shipping of Plymouth afforded him detailed and accurate knowledge of rigging, which was much admired in his work. Wood comments that his RA exhibits showed promise of his becoming a distinguished artist, but that he had died prematurely.
Potter with Bernard LEACH (dates not found by Whybrow despite extensive research). A number of potters came as guests of Leach in the early years and worked for short periods in the pottery, but dates were not always recorded.
Conn moved to St Ives in 1958 from London where he was born, and joined the Penwith Society of Artists. Largely self-taught as an artist, his occupation of structural engineering was an indirect route for moving into art. Five years after his arrival, he moved into the studio in St Ives that he occupied for well over thirty years. His solo shows were in the 1960s outside of Cornwall, but he has shown regularly with the Penwith Society in mixed shows and in local galleries.
Paul Connell is an architect who lives on a farm in west Cornwall. He describes his sculptures as a 'side shoot', often made from materials left over from a building project or farming process. These structures are created from timber, granite or steel.
Esther Connon creates narrative based illustrations. She works from Krowji Studios, Redruth.
In 2009 she graduated from Falmouth University with an MA in Authorial Illustration. Since then she has set up the Old School Press, where she designs and illustrates limited edition self-publications.
Alfred Conquest, the son of Susan Caldecott Conquest (1851 Census), a solicitor's wife, was born in Woodford, Essex. He based himself largely in the southeast, where he may also have been a student of art prior to our notice of him working in France.
C Wood describes him as a London landscape artist who worked prior to 1882 in Pont Aven. However, he is listed in the 1881 Census as an 'artist painter' living with his older sister Emma and brother-in-law's household in Leicestershire. The family lived in the rectory of Stondon Wyville, where the Rev Charles Edward Armstrong was the Rector. Though not listed as a visitor, it may nevertheless have been for a short while in between travels to the continent and to Cornwall.
Conquest exhibited in the Paris Salon 1882-3, and paid his first visit to Cornwall in 1884. The paintings that he sent in to the RA in 1885 were of Brittany and Cornwall. In 1890 he was living at 24 The Terrace, St Ives, and continuing to exhibit widely, a submission of that year at the RA, being a painting of Walberswick (Suffolk). Previously he had submitted A Southwold Pier (near Walberswick) also to the RA, also an artists' haunt visited by other Newlyn and St Ives artists of the time.
His sending-in address, nevertheless, remained at Woodford in 1894 and 1896, but had moved to Hastings by 1902.
In the 1901 Census he is listed as a Lodger at No 15 Cambridge Gardens in Hastings, Sussex (age 47) and single. He exhibits from Hastings until at least 1904, at which time the trail is lost. As yet the date and place of his death cannot be confirmed: there are two Alfred Conquest deaths listed in the GRO records of men with that name born c1849 and 1854, and these died in 1928 in Tonbridge, Kent and in 1922 in Luton, Bedfordshire.
New work by this artist was included in the 2009 exhibition at the Leach Pottery, St Ives, entitled 'The Flower Show' which focussed on ceramic vessels for the art of flower display.
Work by this artist is included in the art collection of University College Falmouth.
London-born artist who exhibited at the first Sketch Exhibition of NAG in Christmas 1895 ( the second exhibition of that opening year) in which she sold Watermeadows.
At the age of 31 in 1901 (according to the Census), she was an art student of independent means, with two servants, living in St Ives. Tovey finds her as a contributor to the renovation and decoration of St John's in the Fields, Halsetown; she worked together with William Banks FORTESCUE to design a new oak altar and reredos for the Church.
By 1920 she had returned to London, and exhibited with the Society of Women Artists that year.
Anyon Cook was married to fellow artist Frederick T W COOK. The couple settled in Polperro in 1947 and remained there for the rest of their lives. Anyon was a well respected portrait painter, whose sitters included royalty and leading churchmen. Her most prestigious commission was that of Princess Anne, to mark her sixth birthday, in 1956. One of the local celebrities whom she painted was the writer Walter Greenwood. A portrait of her husband Freddie was her first exhibit at STISA's 1952 summer exhibition.
She also produced depictions of Polperro harbour in a style not dissimilar to that of her husband. She survived him by over 20 years, dying in 2003.
Shelly Cook's painting is inspired by the rugged landscape of Cornwall.
Dan Cook is a painter who was born in the south-east of England. He lives near St Ives bay.
Following a career in commercial illustration, his focus is now on creating abstract works on wood panel and paper.
His work has been widely shown in the UK and abroad.
Francis Cook was educated at Bradfield College, Reading. He later studied under Harold Speed from 1926-1932, Arnesby BROWN between 1932-1934, and Samuel John Lamorna BIRCH in 1935-36. Flower paintings were a speciality.
An only child, he had been born into an extremely wealthy family. His great-grandfather had acquired an impressive collection of Old Masters, which was augmented by artworks purchased by Francis's father, Sir Herbert Cook. Herbert's expertise led to his becoming a co-founder of The Art Fund, and the Burlington Magazine in 1903, later becoming a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery and of the National Gallery. Subsequent to World War I, Sir Herbert suffered significant financial losses, which were exacerbated by the Wall Street crash of 1929. In 1934 thirty paintings from the family collection were set aside for Francis.
In 1939, on the death of his father, Francis came into his title, and moved to one of many family properties, Porthallow Old House, Talland Bay, Looe in 1940. Music and art history were very important to him, and he lived an unconventional and colourful life, marrying seven times.
He exhibited successfully at the Royal Academy twice, in 1936 and 1938. As a result of his association with Arnesby Brown and Lamorna Birch, he was known to the west Cornwall art fraternity, becoming an associate member of STISA in 1940. The first work which he showed there was 'Cornish Studio - Winter Sunshine' which was highly praised. During the early 1940s he completed a series of religious paintings.
In 1947 Sir Francis moved to Jersey for financial and tax reasons. All of his properties in England and Portugal were sold and Porthallow Old House became the Talland Bay Hotel.
Around 1200 of his paintings are now owned by the Jersey Heritage Trust, and a selection displayed in the Sir Francis Cook Gallery, a former Methodist chapel at Les Augres, Trinity, Jersey, which Sir Francis was in the process of converting into a studio and art gallery when he died.
A London painter exhibiting between 1881-1894 at the RA, SS etc, according to Wood, his address was in London in 1883, but by 1894 had moved to St Ives. Whybrow lists his presence on her artists' colony list for 1901-10, but this is some time after his exhibition dates appear to have halted.
He is known for painting rustic subjects and portraits, and his works include The Village Bakehouse (1888).
The painter Nelly Cook had an extensive exhibiting career, specialising in flower and figure painting. Her 1897 sending-in address was in London, and West Bromwich in 1906. Whybrow finds her on the St Ives visiting list between 1911-20, but no further information has been found.
Two paintings by this artist are included in the collection of the National Maritime Museum Cornwall (2007).
The London-born artist spent every holiday painting in the West Country from an early age before studying at Hampstead School of Art. During World War II he was an official fireman-artist.
In 1947 he and his artist wife, Anyon COOK, settled in Polperro, Cornwall, remaining there for the rest of their lives. Their home on The Warren, which they called 'Harbour Studio' was right on the water's edge. Frederick had previously worked as a commercial artist and was able to secure a number of book illustration commissions, but also developed a decorative style of painting harbour scenes. His brooding and atmospheric storm scenes have proved to be some of his most evocative work.
During the 1940s and 1950s Frederick exhibited a number of works at the Royal Academy, to considerable acclaim. Some of his work was quite experimental, leaning towards abstraction, with elements of the surreal. His paintings could incorporate humour and/or political comment. A keen fisherman, he included local seafarers and miners into pieces whose backgrounds were dramatic and sombre.
In 1956 a joint exhibition at the Trafford Gallery in London with James Neal attracted high praise, a reviewer commenting that his work seemed 'to interpret the soul' of the West Country as well as portray 'its quiet and mystical charm'. Cook's satirical holiday pictures also received favourable critical attention.
George Edward Cook (fl1874-1898) was a London-based painter of landscapes, coastal and rustic subjects who exhibited at the RA, SS and elsewhere (C Wood). His works are identified as Feeding Time, A Chat by the Way, Wargrave Church, etc.
He is possibly the American painter who died in Sothern Pines, North Carolina, and was Associate of St Ives, mentioned in Whybrow's 1901-1910 list of artists in and around St Ives.
Born in Plymouth in 1840, the younger son of the artist Samuel COOK and his wife Elizabeth. After his father died he is to be found working as a painter in the family decorating business but by 1871 he is described in the census as an artist.
His work is nearly always signed with the initials WC and dated, which gives a period of 1870-90 when he was active. His work is characterised by his distinctive use of a palette predominately of pink and green and brown. His middle name is variously spelt Gooding, Gooden or Goodwin although he never appeared to use that initial on his work.
He lived at various addresses in Plymouth and travelled around Devon and Cornwall painting. He exhibited four works of Cornwall at Royal Society of British artists. He died in Plymouth at the age of 57 in 1897.
Simon is a commercial photographer working for local and national press, galleries and agencies from his base in West Cornwall. With over 25 years' experience he has published two books on Cornish landscapes and Cornish artists.
His work appears in countless catalogues and brochures throughout Cornwall, and featured in the John Nettles documentary television series, West Country.
Born in Birmingham, where he studied under Bernard Fleetwood-Walker for five years, Cook taught painting and fine art in several colleges of art and universities (listed in Buckman). In 1992 Cook and his wife, Mary, moved to Helston, Cornwall, and his work is shown widely and held in several public collections.
A celebrated abstract artist based in Mullion on the Lizard, in 2010 he was invited to select and open the 'Open Art Exhibition' for the fourth annual Newlyn Arts Festival. The work of 52 local artists was chosen for exhibition at NAG (paintings, pottery, sculpture).
The death of Barrie Cook in July 2020, aged 91, was followed by that of his wife Mary two days later.
Cook was born in Cheltenham and trained in London at St Martin's School of Art and the Royal College of Art. He came first to Cornwall to stay permanently in 1985. With his first wife he had one son, Theo.
His second wife was the late artist Dr Partou ZIA, with whom he found great contentment and inspiration, and their artistic partnership proved equally creative to their work. Richard Cook's work has been exhibited in Germany and New York and commissioned internationally for public buildings. His paintings are generally quite large in scale, and painted with his fingers rather than brushes (he does have one brush!). His claim is that he works very quickly, after long spells of contemplation about the images he intends to produce, and the feel of the paint is part of the intensity given to the piece. His home studio, once seen, is never forgotten, so thickly caked, cave-like, with paint are the floors and walls.
Though he lives and works in Newlyn, he exhibits widely in solo and mixed and group shows, increasingly in London with Art First, Cork Street, where both he and Partou have consistently shown work (www.artfirst.co.uk).
Latterly, Cook's large paintings, heavily freighted with paint, but lighter in tone and character than previously, were on show at The Exchange Gallery in Penzance. (2010)
Born Camelford 1806. Probably the Samuel Cook baptised at Lanteglos by Camelford on 19 April 1807, son of Susanna Cook, who ran a bakehouse in Camelford. After a rudimentary education there, he was apprenticed to a woollen manufacturer. After his apprenticeship finished he moved to Plymouth in 1826. He worked for a house painter and decorator, a Mr Winsford of Frankfort Street. By 1841 although he was not at home at the time of the census his wife Elizabeth is described as the wife of a painter. He made an unsuccessful attempt to join the NWS in 1843. By 1851 he is describes as an artist. He became an associate of NWS in 1849 and a full member in 1854. In the same year he made a visit to Ireland. He painted extensively in Devon and Cornwall, mainly coastal scenes, harbours and wreckage. He is known to have worked in Polperro in the 1850s. He died in Plymouth on 7th June 1859. His younger son William COOK was also an artist.
He exhibited pieces of work in handwrought brass and copper at NAG in July-September 1928. The other exhibitors within this section were the members of the Newlyn Art Metal Industry (no individual names).