Walter Langley

Considered one of the most representative Newlyn School artists and, alongside Stanhope Forbes, to have been the most consistent in style and substantial in output. Although one of the first to settle in the Newlyn artists' colony Newlyn School, Langley initially benefited little from its growing fame, partly because of his working-class origins and partly because until 1892 he painted largely in watercolour rather than the more prestigious medium of oils. His early training in lithography gives his paintings a detail and texture that show his technical skills.

Born in Birmingham where his father was a journeyman tailor. At 15 he was apprenticed to a lithographer. At 21 he won a scholarship to South Kensington and he studied designing there for two years. He returned to Birmingham but took up painting full-time, and in 1881 was elected an Associate of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA). In the same year he was offered £500 for a year's work by the Birmingham-based photographer Robert White Thrupp (1821–1907). With this money he and his family moved to Newlyn where he was one of the first artists to settle and began recording the life of the fishing community.

The Art of the Newlyn School: 1880 – 1940

18 Jun 2026 - 30 Sep 2028

Over a century later, retired farmer David Bowerman CBE (1936-2020) combined his passions for music and art by creating a charity in West Sussex that holds a nationally important collection of Newlyn School paintings. Works from this collection are regularly lent to Museums and Galleries throughout the country, and, as...

Walter Langley English, 1852-1922

The Art of the Newlyn School: 1880 – 1940

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