A comprehensive, full-colour publication of the works of Robert Borlase Smart (1881-1947).Was Borlase Smart pushing the boundaries of what was accepted as the 'norm' within the definitions of traditional art? The fact that he was a great supporter of the young 'moderns' in St Ives, much to the chagrin of many established artists of the day, is well documented. Traditional art had long been underpinned by the logic of perspective and an attempt to reproduce an illusion of visible reality. His journey towards abstraction was not a sudden, radical one, but more a subtle movement to a 'modern' style in which he found his forté, a style which was eagerly accepted by the mainstream, exhibited at the Paris Salon, the Royal Academy and countless other prestigious institutions.

This well-illustrated guide covers all aspects of painting coastlines and seascapes in oils—a challenge to even the most accomplished artists. Written by a prominent member of Cornwall's St. Ives Society of Artists, it ranges from suggestions for preliminary methods and composition to a complete demonstration in five steps. Additional topics include differences in color of the sea and wave forms, cliffs and island rocks, open sea painting, beach scenes, clouds over the sea, and creating moonlight effects. More than 70 illustrations, chosen for their technical and analytic value, complement the text.

Since his death in 1942, St Ives has become marinated in the spirit of the naive painter, Alfred Wallis. Naum Gabo, the Russian Constructivist, felt that Wallis's gift as an artist was that he never knew he was one. His unconventional approach and the innocence of his personal method of making art marked Alfred Wallis, even after his death, as a crucial figure in the modernist movement. The art scene in St Ives during World War II is depicted vividly in The Alfred Wallis Factor which illustrates the birth of modernism in the small fishing port in the far south-west of England. With dominant personalities like Sven Berlin, Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Adrian Stokes, Bernard Leach, Terry Frost, Peter Lanyon, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and Patrick Heron, it was inevitable that personal relationships would both form and fracture. Though causes would range from the banal to the bizarre, David Wilkinson never loses focus on the high stakes for which these characters were playing: the creation of their work, and reputations, of lasting significance. Their passion was strong and their ambition even stronger. The Alfred Wallis Factor tells the story of this extraordinary painter's long-lasting influence on - and beyond - modernism: David Wilkinson expounds the events around and following the artist's death, assessing the roles of friends and rivals in making Alfred Wallis a benchmark of modern British art. The Alfred Wallis Factor is a comprehensive examination of a troubled era, in which life met war and changed the destiny of the art world.

British painter Peter Lanyon transformed the art of landscape, rescuing it from picturesque depictions of the English countryside and resituating it as an art form capable of expressing radical ideas. The old European tradition of landscape—mostly concerned with ownership and leisure and not the daily life of the working class—was of no interest to Lanyon. His work instead reframed the consequences of war and industrialization upon a rapidly changing coastal landscape. In Peter Lanyon, Andrew Causey sets out to explain just how this transformation occurred. Lanyon’s family resided in West Cornwall for generations, and Causey asserts that the artist’s concern with regional identity, along with his resistance to what he saw as a history of outsider exploitation of St. Ives and the surrounding areas, were integral to his art. Drawing on recent work by cultural geographers, anthropologists, and archeologists, Causey makes sense of Lanyon’s relationship to the landscape and the pre-capitalist economy of his region. Provocative and insightful, Peter Lanyon is a thoroughly illuminating examination of the modern life of a landscape artist.

The French social philosopher Pierre Bourdieu is now recognised as one of the major thinkers of the twentieth century. In a career of over fifty years, Bourdieu studied a wide range of topics: education, culture, art, politics, economics, literature, law, and philosophy. Throughout these studies, Bourdieu developed a highly specialised series of concepts that he referred to as his "thinking tools", which were used to uncover the workings of contemporary society. Pierre Bourdieu: Key Concepts highlights his most important concepts and examines them in detail. Each chapter deals with an individual concept and is written to be of immediate use to the student with little or no previous knowledge of Bourdieu. This new edition of the leading text is entirely revised and updated and includes new essays on Methodology, Politics and Social Space.

A pictorial history of the rise, fall, and rebirth of the scenic railway in Cornwall, featuring never before published photos. In 1963 comic duo Flanders and Swann composed Slow Train—a lament for some of the many railway lines proposed for closure by Dr Beeching. Among the destinations listed in their song is the refrain “from St Erth to St Ives”. Constructed in 1877 as the last broad gauge line to be built in the UK, the St Ives branch did not close in the 1960s and survives to this day—now widely regarded as one of the most scenic railways in Europe. How did it escape closure, and how did it come to be built in the first place? Why did the war departments of the world have their eyes on St Ives in the years before the First World War? How did a town once renowned for the inescapable smell of fish become one of the most popular tourist resorts in the UK? Did the Great Western Railway invent the Cornish Riviera? Why was a heliport proposed for St Erth? Where did a thirty-two-ton ballast digger end-up in 2008? And how did two young men find themselves four miles from the nearest station in 1860. . . ? Containing over 100 images, mostly in colour and many never published before, this book sets out to answer these and many more questions. Praise for The St Ives Branch Line “A detailed, historical and photographic record of the line, from its very beginnings to the present day. . . . An excellent reference for anyone interested in Cornwall’s railways or scenic UK branch lines in general.” —Model Rail Magazine “If you are looking for a comprehensive and well-illustrated overview of the St Ives line throughout its life, this book will meet your requirements admirably.” —West Somerset Railway Association