Walter Langley’s Paintings of Women & Children

This talk analyses how Walter Langley (1852 – 1922) used his depictions of women and children of Newlyn in Cornwall in the late 19th century to express his social realist message and how he shows the reality of their poverty. 

Hailing from a working-class background and having grown up in the slums of Birmingham as one of nine children, with seven sisters, Langley possessed firsthand knowledge of poverty and the challenges faced by working women in Victorian society. His paintings of Newlyn Women, spanning from childhood to old age, reflect these experiences.

We also look at the technical skills Langley used to convey the realism of his subject matter in his paintings, particularly using watercolour; we also look at who his artistic role models were and  how Langley’s paintings were received critically both at home and abroad.  

Catherine Wallace is a freelance art historian, author, curator and lecturer specialising in British art with a focus on artists in Cornwall 1880 to the present day. www.cathwallace.co.uk

Tickets: £12

A £1 Poly Fund payment is added to each ticket sold

Image Used: The Fish Wife, watercolour, 1890 by Walter Langley ©The Sheila Hichens Collection, St. Michael’s Mount