A painter of pure landscape, self-taught and self-made, Samuel John ‘Lamorna’ Birch RA (1869 – 1955) was the founder and father figure of the Lamorna colony of artists and writers in West Cornwall. Birch had a lifelong association with Lamorna, from where he took his name.
A Painter Laureate refers to the title of Austin Wormleighton’s 1995 biography about Birch. Austin was a founding member of the Lamorna Society and was President right up until his death in 2019. This exhibition is being staged to celebrate the second edition of the book, updated by Austin and published posthumously by his partner, Jo Sunter.
This exhibition showcases over 25 of Lamorna Birch’s paintings from Austin’s personal collection. Galleries 1, A selection of Newlyn School paintings is on view in Galleries 2,3 and 4.
Biddy Picard (1922 – 2019) was born in Derbyshire and studied first at Chesterfield School of Art and subsequently at the Slade. Arriving in Cornwall on a French fishing boat in the late 1940s, she initially lived in Lamorna as part of the post-war art colony, before moving to Mousehole and setting up a pottery with her husband Bill.
Her paintings vary greatly in style, ranging from classical life studies of family and friends to domestic drawings and landscape paintings, through to semi-abstract and abstract work, often inspired by visits to the Isles of Scilly. However, she was most renowned for her distinctive semi-naive harbour scenes in which she evoked the feeling and spirit of West Penwith in timeless compositions. On display in Gallery 5.
Date: Friday 17 October 2025
Time: Doors open at 6.30 pm for a 6.45 pm launch
Location: Penlee House Gallery & Museum
No charge, no need to book.
