BRINGING the seaside inland, Lawrence House Museum in Launceston kicked off its 2018 season in style with an exhibition of paintings kindly loaned by David Tovey, a leading expert on Cornish art, writes Zoë Uglow.

Lawrence House Museum was delighted to play host once again to Mr Tovey and his impressive collection of paintings, which depict Cornish coastal scenes. The exhibition was entitled ‘Fishing around the Cornish Coast’ and had a strong St Ives and Polperro influence with the works depicting the three fishing seasons of Cornwall; the mackerel season in spring, the pilchard season in early autumn and the herring season in late autumn.

Mr Tovey previously held an exhibition at the museum of paintings by foreign artists but thought it would be appropriate this year to display a few more ‘local’ images that could invoke memories of childhood visits to the seaside for those viewing them.

The Post spoke to Mr Tovey on the museum’s opening night, Wednesday, March 28, about some of his favourite paintings in the collection and their historical significance.

One of particular interest was ‘Fish Sale’ by Alberto Ludovici Jnr. Mr Tovey said: “Well the star work I think is the piece by Alberto Ludovici Jnr. It was painted in 1883, and anyone who knows about Cornish art will be able to tell you that the most well known Cornish painting was ‘A Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach’ painted in 1884 by Stanhope Forbes. They both depict a similar scene and it is fascinating how one year can make all the difference. Maybe Ludovici’s painting was the inspiration for Forbes’ work — but that isn’t certain.”

Another favourite in the collection was a watercolour by Charles Mottram painted in 1906. This painting depicts the pilchard fishing season in the bay of St Ives. Mr Tovey said: “This painting is distinctive because of the ‘purple splodge’ at its centre. This is what fishermen would look out for as a shoal of pilchards appears just like a purple haze under the water. It depicts very clearly the process of running the large seine nets out to encircle the shoal and is one of the only watercolours I have in this collection.”

Mr Tovey said he hopes his exhibition will draw a new crowd into the museum, which he says is well worth a visit.

Speaking about Lawrence House Musuem, Mr Tovey said: “It is not the most pristine gallery space I have exhibited in but it has a wonderful cosy charm to it and I think it is great that Launceston has a place like this that is open to the public so there can be a constant chain of exhibits.

“I also just want to add, I know the inordinate amount of time and effort these volunteer curators put in to an exhibition like this and I want to say from the bottom of my heart how grateful I am to them.”

Museum curator Jake Jackson said: “It was good to see so many people turn up to hear Mr David Tovey speak about the pictures that he had lent to the museum for the first exhibition of our 2018 season.

“They are very attractive in themselves and he is able to give us the background detail, which brings them to life. We are grateful to the Friends of the Museum for supplying delicious refreshments.”

The museum will continue to open its doors to the public until Friday, October 26. Open from 10.30am to 4.30pm (last entry 4pm) from Monday to Friday. For more information about the museum and the exhibits on display call 01566 773277, email [email protected] or visit the website www.lawrencehousemuseum.org