NO. 7 - FOUR-MASTED FULL-RIGGED SHIPA full-rigged ship carried square sails on every mast, with a gaff-rigged sail on the lower part of the aft mast, as Alfred Wallis has depicted in this early painting.These ships sailed long-distance trade routes, carrying heavy bulk cargoes like timber and guano,...
This is a crayon drawing of a lightship (lower right) made by Alfred Wallis in 1941, when he was in Madron Workhouse (then known as Madron Public Assistance Institution).With the surrounding rocks, it may represent the Sevenstones Lightship which warned ships of a hazardous submerged reef near the...
When Alfred Wallis lived at St Ives, lifeboats had white hulls and darker, contrasting gunwales above, for greater visibility at sea.In this painting of a lifeboat, Wallis has made sure to add the 'life-lines' - looped ropes which were vital for survivors to cling to when they were being rescued...
This beautiful painting by Alfred Wallis was done on the back of a calendar. He clearly liked the colour of the cardboard as he left much of it unpainted, and coloured the sea to complement it. It is likely he painted the barque first, detailing the green bottom of its hull, and then added the waves...
This painting by Alfred Wallis depicts a type of vessel of North American design, built for speed in the coastal freight trade.In Britain, ships of this type were known as ‘three-masted fore-and-afters’, though they were never common in British waters.Wallis most likely encountered them during...
According to his step-granddaughter Jessie, Alfred Wallis “was very fond of Horatio Nelson because he was born in Devonport, and he was all for the Navy.” She also recalled that Wallis kept a model of Nelson’s ship, HMS Victory.It is very likely Wallis saw the real Victory during the years it...
Throughout December I’ll be sharing different types of vessels painted by Alfred Wallis. I’ve no idea how many he captured in his work, so I'm excited to find out.I’m starting with this painting of two fishing smacks, their sails marked with Blyth harbour registration letters. These were North...
Before Alfred Wallis started painting, he used to make things to sell at St Ives Fair Mo, held at the end of November.This historic pig fair had transformed into a winter street fair, with booths "up Tregenna" selling sweets, toys, and fruit. In the evening the streets were lit by flaming torches...
This beautiful 1930s painting by Alfred Wallis is one of many he made depicting St Ives as it was when he first moved there in the 1880s.Anti-clockwise around the painting are the remains of the 1860s wooden pier, Smeaton’s Pier, luggers moored in the harbour, seine boats on Porthminster Beach...
No commentary today - this Alfred Wallis painting speaks for itself...
In November 1876, Alfred Wallis’s grief over the loss of his son would have been compounded by reports in the newspapers about his friends on the ship that left Batteau the day before his:“The Recruit sailed from Batteo [sic], Labrador, the 8th of October, with a cargo of cod-fish &c, for...
Alfred Wallis finally arrived home from his ordeal at sea on 10 November 1876. Tragically, he missed seeing his newly born son, Alfred Charles Wallis, who had died just six weeks earlier. Wallis and his wife later had a second child, Ellen Jane, but heartbreak struck again when she died shortly...
Here is a newly seen painting by Alfred Wallis, soon to be auctioned at Lay's Saleroom. It shows a cutter or similar single-masted gaff-rigged sailing vessel on rough sea.It may be a late painting as it is done on the back of an envelope. From 1939, Wallis was forced to use this type of scrappier,...
On this day in 1876, Alfred Wallis was sailing home from Labrador on the Belle Aventure - the schooner damaged but safe after nearly capsizing in a ferocious storm in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Wallis must have felt a surge of relief at the sight of the Lizard Lighthouse, a familiar beacon...
For me, this enigmatic painting by Alfred Wallis conjures the spirit of an ancient All Hallows’ Eve, when the veil between the living and the dead grows thin.It is the beginning of winter - the dark half of the year. The house looks small and ghostly beneath the towering forest. Inside, the living...