Norman Garstin - It Raineth Every Day 1889

Norman Garstin (28 August 1847 – 22 June 1926) was an Irish artist, teacher, art critic and journalist associated with the

Newlyn School The Newlyn School was an art colony of artists based in or near Newlyn, a fishing village adjacent to Penzance, on the south coast of Cornwall, from the 1880s until the early twentieth century. The establishment of the Newlyn School was reminis ...

of painters. After completing his studies in Antwerp and Paris, Garstin travelled around Europe and painted some of his first professional paintings while on the journey. He later took students to Europe to some of his favourite places. Garstin painted ''

plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...

'' and was influenced by

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

, Japanese works and James McNeill Whistler. Some of his works are at

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

and

Penlee House Penlee House is a museum and art gallery located in the town of Penzance in Cornwall, and is home to a great many paintings by members of the Newlyn School, including many by Stanhope Forbes, Norman Garstin, Walter Langley and Lamorna Birch ...

. Garstin was a founding member of the

Newlyn Art Gallery Newlyn Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in Newlyn, Cornwall, UK. Opened in 1895, designed by James Hicks of Redruth and financed by John Passmore Edwards the gallery was conceived as a home and exhibition venue for the Newlyn ...

. His daughter, Alethea, was also a

artist.

Personal life

He was born 28 August 1847 in Caherconlish,

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province , subd ...

, Ireland to Captain William Garstin and Mary Moore Garstin. He was raised by aunts and grandparents following his father's suicide and his mother's incapacitating disabilities.''Norman Garstin''.
Cornwall Artists. Retrieved 5 October 2012. Garstin attended Victoria College on the island of

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

and then he worked in architecture and engineering for brief periods. He then travelled to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

where he befriended Cecil Rhodes, worked as a journalist and was involved in government in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. Pursuing an interest in art, Garstin trained in 1880 in Antwerp at the Royal Academy. From 1882 to 1884 he studied in Paris at an academy founded by Carolus-Duran. He then travelled and painted his way through Spain,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, Italy. In 1886, he married Louisa Jones, also known as Dochie. Many of Garstin's friends from school in Antwerp had settled in Newlyn; Garstin and Dochie moved to Mount Vernon in Newlyn by 1886. They had three children: Crosbie, Denis and Alethea. The boys took up journalism and Alethea became an artist. The family moved to Penzance by 1895. On 22 June 1926, Garstin died in Penzance.

Career

Garstin worked as a painter, teacher, art critic and journalist. As printed in ''100 Years in Newlyn'', Norman Garstin was:

He was a man of intensely individual impulses and opinions, and incurred unpopularity at times through his views on war and other topics. But he was a stimulating teacher and a shrewd critic, and had a true eye for a picture with old architecture and historic atmosphere, as well as a brush capable of rendering his intentions with right effect.

In 1888 he became a member of the

New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) was founded in London in 1885 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. It continues to hold an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries in London, exhibiting works by both members and a ...

(NEAC). Garstin became a member of the Newlyn Society of Artists (NSA) and was on the Newlyn Art Gallery's Provisional Committee for its opening in 1895. Garstin said of the

plein-air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...

approach used by St Ives and Newlyn artists: They were "filled with this idea of a fresh unarranged nature to be studied in her fields, and by her streams, and on the margin of her great seas – in these things they were to find the motives of their art."Andrew Causey.
Peter Lanyon: Modernism and the Land
'. Reaktion Books; 2006. . p. 14. He was a teacher and took groups to "his favorite painting haunts on the Continent." For instance,

Frances Hodgkins Frances Mary Hodgkins (28 April 1869 – 13 May 1947) was a New Zealand painter chiefly of landscape and still life, and for a short period was a designer of textiles. She was born and raised in New Zealand, but spent most of her working ...

, a New Zealand artist, attended Garstin's 1901 and 1902 summer sketching classes in France. He taught Harold Harvey, the only Cornish

painter, and his daughter, Alethea.

Works

His work consisted primarily of small oil panels in the ''

'' style, something he had picked up from the French

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

, like

Manet A wireless ad hoc network (WANET) or mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a decentralized type of wireless network. The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre-existing infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points ...

. He was also fascinated by Japanese prints and admired the work of the American painter James McNeill Whistler.Professor Kenneth McConkey.
Impressionism in Britain
'. Yale University Press; 20 March 1995. . p. 129. One of his best and most famous works is his 1889 painting ''The Rain, it raineth every day'' of the Penzance promenade. The title of the work comes from Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' and ''Twelfth Night.'' "The composition of this painting demonstrates Garstin's admiration for Japanese art," says

. A partial list of his works includes:''Norman Garstin.''
an

. Retrieved 5 October 2012. * ''Crosbie Garstin as a Baby,'' 1887, oil on canvas, Penlee House, loan from Newlyn Art Gallery * ''In a Cottage by the Sea,'' 1887, oil on canvas, Penlee House, loan from Newlyn Art Gallery * ''The Drinking Pool,'' 1887, watercolour * ''The Rain, it raineth every day'', 1889, oil on canvas * ''A View of Newlyn from the North Pier,'' c. 1892, oil on canvas, Penlee House, loan from Newlyn Art Gallery * ''Houses and Boats'', oil on panel, Penlee House, loan from Newlyn Art Gallery * ''Market Jew Street'', oil on panel, Penlee House, loan from Newlyn Art Gallery * ''Saturday (an Interior View of Garstin's Home)'', oil on panel, Penlee House, loan from Newlyn Art Gallery

Gallery

File:Norman Garstin - Autumn 1882.jpg, ''Autumn'', 1882, oil on canvas File:Norman Garstin - Artichokes Hyeres 1883.jpg, ''Artichokes Hyeres'', 1883, oil on panel File:Norman Garstin - Haycocks And Sun 1886.jpg, ''Haycocks And Sun'', 1886, oil on wood File:Norman Garstin - In A Cottage 1887.jpg, ''In a Cottage,'' 1887, oil on canvas File:Norman Garstin - A Woman Reading A Newspaper 1891.jpg, ''A Woman Reading A Newspaper'', 1891, oil on wood File:Norman Garstin - A View Of Mount's Bay 1892.jpg, ''A View of Mount's Bay,'' 1892, oil on panel File:Norman Garstin - Portrait 1896.jpg, ''Portrait of a Basque Woman,'' 1896, lithograph File:Norman Garstin - Alethea And Her Mother 1898.jpg, ''Alethea And Her Mother'', 1898, oil on wood File:Norman Garstin - Notre Dame Du Roncier Josselin 1911.jpg, ''Notre Dame Du Roncier Josselin'', 1911, oil on panel File:Norman Garstin - Saturday Josselin 1911.jpg, ''Saturday Josselin'', 1911, oil on panel File:Norman Garstin - The Bull Hotel 1916.jpg, ''The Bull Hotel'', 1916, oil on wood File:Norman Garstin - Breton Women At La Faouet.jpg, ''Breton Women at la Faouet'' File:Norman Garstin - In The Shade.jpg, ''In The Shade'', oil on canvas File:Norman Garstin - Newlyn From The Meadow.jpg, ''Newlyn from the Meadow'' File:Norman Garstin - Tiddlers.jpg, ''Tiddlers'', watercolour

Notes

References

External links

*
''Mount's Bay and Tolcarne from Trewidden Farm Footpath with Alethea and her Mother''
Tate
''Haycocks and Sun''
Tate {{DEFAULTSORT:Garstin, Norman 1847 births 1926 deaths 19th-century Irish painters 20th-century Irish painters Irish journalists Irish male painters Newlyn School of Artists Artists from County Limerick 19th-century Irish male artists 20th-century Irish male artists