Falmouth Gallery

Henry Scott Tukes French brigantine Julie of Nantes at the Mill Dam, Falmouth, Cornwall. Around 1886

The artist, Henry Scott Tuke (1858-1929), purchased Julie of Nantes in 1886 for use as a floating studio. It is thought that he can be seen standing at the bow of the ship. 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. Photographer: Unknown

© From the collection of the RIC

Cornish wrestling match, Gyllyngdune Gardens, Falmouth, Cornwall. Around 1930s

A crowd watching a Cornish wrestling match in front of the Princess Pavilion. The two older men in the ring with the wrestlers are sticklers (referees). Gyllyngdune Gardens opened in 1907 with the Princess Pavilion added in 1910. From the R.A. Curtis collection. Photographer: Unknown

© From the collection of the RIC

Cloche, Cornish, Entertainment, Hats, Parasol, Stick, Sticks, Traditional Sport, Wrasslin, Wrestle, Wrestler

The three-masted French ship Socoa in Falmouth Harbour, Cornwall. 1906

View of the starboard side of the three-masted French steel ship Socoa in Falmouth Harbour with tugs alongside. Note the remains of a wooden warship being broken up in the right foreground. The Socoa was built in 1901 by Chantier and Atelier de St Nazaire at St Nazaire and registered in Bayonne. At 2613 tons gross, she was 282 feet 9 inches x 44 feet x 22 feet 7 inches. She was on passage from Stettin to San Francisco carrying cement to rebuild the city after earthquake damage when she was stranded on Craggan Rock, Cadgwith, on 31st July 1906. She was successfully floated off after jettisoning 50,000 barrels of cement. She was later renamed Thiers. Photographer: Unknown

© From the collection of the RIC