I did say this blog would be an occassional rummage through art, collections and heritage, but, admittedly, there has been quite a lengthy gap between posts. No matter, The Sift is now back!

Eleanor Hughes, West Penwith Landscape, watercolour on paper, Private collection

This post has developed from a recent visit to Cornwall, where I was re-introduced to a small privately owned collection of watercolours and etchings by the artist Eleanor Hughes (1882 - 1959). My interest was piqued by the combination of my work with collections and my connection with Cornwall. Although I was already aware of the artist, encountering the collection again spurred me on to discover more about her background and her work.

Eleanor Hughes was an active member of the Newlyn School of Art, part of the Lamorna Colony of artists in West Cornwall and a friend and associate of other artists including Lamorna Birch, Laura & Harold Knight, and Ella & Charles Naper. She specialised in painting the Cornish landscape surrounding her,  mainly in watercolour, and in the 1930s she also took up etching. She was especially interested in depicting trees, as well as the farming and mining heritage of the area.

Eleanor Hughes, A Farm Near Trewoofe, watercolour on paper, Private collection

Eleanor Mary was born in Christchurch New Zealand in 1882 to Frederick and Alice Waymouth, both with West Country origins. Eleanor was initially educated in New Zealand and grew up in a home where artistic talent was encouraged. In 1900 she was awarded a medal by the Canterbury Fine Art Society for her drawings of trees. She first visited England in the early 1900s and went to study for a short time with Stanhope and Elizabeth Forbes at their Newlyn Art School in Cornwall.

In 1907, she left New Zealand once again to pursue further study in England at Frank Spenlove’s Yellow Door Studio in Beckenham, before returning to the Forbes School in Newlyn, where she met fellow artist Robert Morson Hughes. In 1910 they were married in St Buryan and from 1912 she signed all of her work as Eleanor Hughes. After spending some time travelling in Italy, the couple began building their house, Chyangweal, near St Buryan, with a studio in the Lamorna Valley. They both lived there for the rest of their lives.

The small privately owned collection of work by Hughes grew slowly, following an initial purchase of a watercolour long ago in an antique shop in Chapel Street in Penzance. It was the subject of the watercolour, the Crowns engine houses of Botallack Mine near St Just (pictured below), which first attracted the collectors because of their professional interest in Cornish mining.

Eleanor Hughes, Crowns Engine Houses, watercolour on paper, Private collection

The collectors’ interest in the artist and her work grew and more examples were purchased. They were not all bought together, but acquired gradually over time and from a variety of sources. Some were bought locally but others were acquired from further afield. Several works were, for instance, an early internet purchase from the United States, which was something of a gamble at the time. The Collection now includes a mix of watercolours, pencil sketches and etchings.

The collectors have spent many enjoyable times touring West Cornwall, identifying the locations of the pictures and making a contemporary record of the scenes depicted. Sadly, these contemporary records were not available for comparison here. 

 Eleanor Hughes, View to St. Michael's Mount, etching, Private collection

Eleanor Hughes was active artistically until she sold her studio in 1940. She died at her home in Cornwall in 1959. Throughout their working lives she and Robert had travelled regularly to paint in France and Spain, but West Cornwall remained their home and the inspiration for their work.

Eleanor was active in organising the exhibitions of the artists of Newlyn and St Ives and exhibited her own work widely. From 1911 she began exhibiting at the Royal Academy, the Institute of Painters in Watercolours and many other institutions throughout her career including the New English Art Club, the Walker Gallery and the Glasgow Institute. She also sent work regularly for exhibition and sale to New Zealand. Today her work is represented in many collections, including in the Christchurch Art Gallery in New Zealand and closer to home in the Penlee House Gallery and Museum in Penzance. 

Working with collections always takes me to interesting intellectual and physical places and this time I've enjoyed my tour of West Cornwall through Eleanor Hughes's art. 

All images are copyright of the Estate of Robert Morson and Eleanor Hughes. I have not been able to contact the Estate at the time of publishing. If you represent the Estate, or know how I can contact them, please let me know via the Get In Touch page.