Beach Gallery

After the Bathe, Henry Scott Tuke (1858-1929)

Oil on canvas, Newlyn School, late 19th century / early 20th century. Portrait of a nude adolescent boy drying himself with towel. Henry Scott Tuke was born into a Quaker family in Lawrence Street, York. In 1859 the family moved to Falmouth, where his father Daniel Tuke, a physician, established a practice. Tuke was encouraged to draw and paint from an early age and some of his earliest drawings, aged four or five years old, were published in 1895. In 1875, he enrolled in the Slade School of Art. Initially his father paid for his tuition but in 1877 Tuke won a scholarship, which allowed him to continue his training at the Slade and in Italy in 1880. From 1881 to 1883 he was in Paris where he met the artist Jules Bastien-Lepage, who encouraged him to paint en plein air (in the open air) a method of working that came to dominate his practice. While studying in France, Tuke decided to move to Newlyn, Cornwall where many of his Slade and Parisian friends had already formed the Newlyn School of painters. He received several lucrative commissions there, after exhibiting his work at the Royal Academy of Art in London. In 1885, he returned to Falmouth where many of his major works were produced. He became an established artist and was elected to full membership of the Royal Academy in 1914. Tuke suffered a heart attack in 1928 and died in March 1929. In his will he left generous amounts of money to some of the men who, as boys, had been his models. Today he is remembered mainly for his oil paintings of young men, but in addition to his achievements as a figurative painter, he was an established maritime artist and produced as many portraits of sailing ships as he did human figures. He was a prolific artist, over 1,300 works are listed and more are still being discovered.

© RIC

Towan Head, Newquay, Cornwall. 1900

A view of cliffs on the north side of Towan Head, looking east. The coastguard lookout, with flags flying, can be seen to the right. This is now the site of Newquay War Memorial. The Atlantic Hotel, opened in 1892, can be seen right of centre with the Huer's Hut, dating from the mid 1800s, in the distance. Photographer: John Charles Burrow.

© From the collection of the RIC

Kynance Cove, Landewednack, Cornwall. 1899

Herbert Hughes and Jonathan Thomas seated at a table overlooking the shorefront and the sea. Lion Head and Lizard Rock can be seen behind. Photographer: Unknown, although probably William Thomas whose initials are on the slide.

© From the collection of the RIC

Beach, Bench, Cliffs, Cornish, Cottage, Peninsula, Rocks, Sea, The Lizard