The small Cornish seaside town of St Ives has morphed into a world-famous artistic hotspot.
Traditionally, fishing was the main industry and visitors in the past would have encountered a working harbour busy with boats catching mackerel, pilchard and herring.
Fishing still goes on – but to a lesser degree – these days around 600,000 tourists arrive annually, a great number of them coming for culture.
How did it all start? The answer involves two key local ingredients: beautiful landscape, plus a remarkable clarity of golden local light.
JMW Turner was the earliest big-name artist to be lured in (back in 1811), and he was followed by many others in the 19th century including the likes of Walter Sickert and James Whistler.
Cornish cream: Sara Lawrence explores St Ives and its vibrant arts scene. Above, a view of Porthmeor beach on the doorstep of Tate St Ives
Sara reveals that artists have been drawn to St Ives for decades because of its ‘beautiful landscape, plus a remarkable clarity of golden local light’
Then, as the fishing industry began to dry up at the end of the century, new railway tracks brought in yet more easel and chisel wielding visitors including British ceramicist Bernard Leach and his Japanese friend Shoji Hamada (who founded the iconic Leach Pottery in 1920), plus the sculptor Barbara Hepworth.
By the 1950s an avant-garde new generation was arriving, forming the St Ives School – which became central to developments in British art.
This cultural importance of St Ives was cemented when the Tate opened a branch in the West in 1993. Standing proud on the cliffs above Porthmeor Beach, overlooking the Atlantic, this gallery is dramatic, appealing and an essential visit; the latest exhibition being ‘Maresias’ by Beatriz Milhazes, a Brazilian abstract painter. Maresias means ‘salty sea breeze’ and Milhazes wanted to show her colourful, nature-inspired work on the same ocean as her Rio de Janeiro home.
‘In between bracing walks along the coast – and perhaps a dip in the sea at one of the many nearby sandy beaches – you can fit in a lot of art on a visit,’ says Sara. Above – Bamaluz Beach in St Ives
The Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden at Trewyn Studio is one of 40-plus art spaces in town. Sculptures in bronze and stone fill the subtropical garden, as pictured here
Running alongside is a display of Mark Rothko’s abstract works; the American visited St Ives in 1959.
Meanwhile, the permanent collection contains pieces by modern British artists with links to the area. In between bracing walks along the coast – and perhaps a dip in the sea at one of the many nearby sandy beaches – you can fit in a lot of art on a visit.
Porthmeor Studios is just along the beach from the Tate. Built on top of 19th century pilchard cellars, it’s now home to the St Ives School of Painting and hosts resident artists.
With 40-plus art spaces in town there’s heaps to see. The Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden is at Trewyn Studio, where Hepworth lived and worked from 1949 until her tragic death in a fire there in 1975.
The Sloop Inn, pictured, is one of the oldest inns in Cornwall and dates from 1312. ‘It’s a favourite with fishermen, artists – and tourists,’ says Sara
Sculptures in bronze and stone fill the subtropical garden, while paintings, drawings and wooden pieces are displayed inside.
Up the hill from the cobbled streets of the town centre is the Leach Pottery. The original workshops and kiln shed are now a museum and contemporary ceramicists occupy a new studio.
West Cornwall’s foodie scene is also thriving in St Ives. Beachside restaurant Porthminster Beach Cafe specialises in sensational seafood alongside sublime views. The Sloop Inn on the harbour is one of the oldest inns in Cornwall and dates from 1312. It’s a favourite with fishermen, artists – and tourists.
With its white-washed cottages, beaches and turquoise sea – bathed in a romantic golden light – it’s easy to see why this seductive place inspires so many.
