Penlee House Gallery & Museum

For many years, Walter Langley’s Cornish Fisherfolk has been on long-term loan to us. Now, this treasured painting is due to be sold, but we’ve been given an opportunity to acquire it by private treaty before it goes to auction.

Find out more: friendsofpenleehouse.org.uk/appeal-langl...

Today’s @artukdotorg.bsky.social #OnlineArtExchange theme is emotion. We chose Bramley’s "A Hopeless Dawn" (1888), a poignant scene of a wife and mother at daybreak as hope fades. Ruskin’s words at the RA spoke of sorrow, courage, and a guiding hand through every “hopeless dawn.”

Today, we're celebrating Crossed Fingers Selfie Day for the #NationalLottery's Birthday 🤞

Over the years, Penlee House has gratefully received support to extend and make its collections accessible from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (formerly Heritage Lottery Fund).

On this day in 1857, Stanhope Alexander Forbes was born.

Dubbed ‘the father of the Newlyn School’, Forbes’s painting ‘A Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach’, 1885, brought national recognition to the art colony and the school of painting he founded with his wife Elizabeth.

Discover the life and work of Biddy Picard (1922–2019) — an artist whose unmistakable evocations of West Cornwall have captivated local and national audiences for decades.

“The works on the canvas are just parts of one’s whole life.” – Biddy Picard, Paul, 2005

penleehouse.org.uk/exhibition/b...

✨ Exciting evening ahead! ✨
Maisy-Sky, Katie S, and Katie H are proudly representing Penlee House at the Cornwall Tourism Awards 2025 tonight 🏆

We’re thrilled to be nominated for Small Tourism Attraction of the Year — fingers crossed! 🤞💛

#CornwallTourismAwards #PenleeHouse #Penzance

Recent Acquisition 🖼️
Sheltering from the Sun by Elizabeth Adela Forbes ARWS (1859–1912)

This beautiful watercolour and gouache on linen board captures a quiet, sunlit moment of rest and human connection. The work was generously bequeathed to the collection by Fay Juliet Huleatt-Boyd in 2025.

This seemed like a very appropriate image for today! 💨🌧️
Gurnard's Head No. 2, 1947, by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham. Purchased with funding from @artfund.bsky.social & the Friends of Penlee House.

Gurnard's Head is an outcrop of rock near Zennor, and also the name of a pub popular with artists.

Museum information- “The artist became particularly well-known for dramatic coastal scenes, in which he focussed on the sculptural quality of the huge granite blocks that formed the cliffs and set them against a sparkling sea.”

“The Cliffs near Land's End”
Robert Morson Hughes (1873 - 1953)

I love the dramatic scene. The stark, sculptural cliffs & the breaking waves of the sea.

Owned by Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall
Seen at @penleehousegallery.bsky.social

#Art #NewlynSchool

This week’s @artukdotorg.bsky.social #OnlineArtExchange theme is Spooky Art 👻

We have chosen Death the Bride by Thomas Cooper Gotch.

From a dark sea of blood-red poppies, a spectral bride emerges — veiled in black, crowned with white flowers, her pale smile hovering between innocence and eternity.

🍂 Half Term Fun at Penlee House! 🎨👩‍👧‍👦 Free drop-in workshops:

🪓 29 Oct | Greenstone Axeheads & Historic Farming | 11am–2pm
🎨 30 Oct | Picard People Painting | 1:30–3:30pm

Hands-on art, history & family fun! #HalfTerm #FamilyFun #Cornwall

🎨 Help us keep Walter Langley’s Cornish Fisherfolk in Cornwall! Penlee House needs your support to raise £25,000 and save this treasured painting for future generations. 💙

friendsofpenleehouse.org.uk/appeal-langl...

It was a pleasure to welcome Patrick Grant to Penlee House today for a quick look around our new exhibitions — and to admire the stunning 1920s Crysede fabric and garments.

Thank you, Patrick, for visiting — and for making Maisy-Sky and Jo’s day! 👏🧵💫

This week's @artukdotorg.bsky.social #OnlineArtExchange theme is #autumn 🍂 We have chosen Autumn Sunlight, Sennen Cove, Cornwall by Dame Laura Knight, which is owned by Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

📚 New in the Gallery Shop: A Painter Laureate (Second Edition)

We’re thrilled to announce the release of A Painter Laureate: Lamorna Birch and His Circle by Austin Wormleighton, published posthumously by Whitefox Publishing (£39.99).

penleehouse.org.uk/product/a-pa...

Upcoming lecture! Heroines in War: Women War Artists and the Depiction of Women’s Role in the Second World War with Catherine Wallace.

🗓 Wednesday 19th November, 2.30 pm
📍 The Queen’s Hotel, Penzance
🎟 £7 Friends | £15 Non-Friends

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lecture-he...

🍂 Autumn at Penlee House 🍂

This autumn, explore two captivating exhibitions celebrating Cornwall’s rich artistic heritage: Lamorna Birch: A Painter Laureate and Biddy Picard: Timeless Penwith. 🎨

Plus, don’t miss a selection of Newlyn School works in the downstairs galleries.

👻 Today’s @artukdotorg.bsky.social #OnlineArtExchange theme is ghosts. Our pick: Alfred Munnings’ The Haunted Room (1952). Unusually eerie for Munnings, it depicts a spectral presence by a bed said to have a sinister past—haunting viewers and critics alike when first shown at the Royal Academy.

Join the Friends of Penlee House for a lecture about the life and career of S.J. Lamorna Birch

📅 Date: Monday 20th October
🕝 Time: 2.30 pm
📍 Venue: The Queen’s Hotel, Penzance
🎟️ Tickets: £7 Friends | £15 Non-Friends
👉 Book now to secure your place!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/.../lecture-....

We’re delighted to share that Stanhope Forbes’s masterpiece The Seine Boat (1904) is once again on display at Penlee House!

On long-term loan, this stunning work captures the rhythm of Cornish life — the ‘seine’ net seen in the boat was used for catching pilchards.

Exhibition rehang period: 6- 15 October 2025 📣

During an exhibition rehang, closing some of the galleries is necessary. The downstairs galleries will be closed from 6 -15 October 2025. The Museum and Gallery 5 will be open with a selection of Newlyn School works.

We’re thrilled to announce that Penlee House Gallery & Museum has been named a Finalist in the Cornwall Tourism Awards - South West 2025/26 for Small Visitor Attraction of the Year🏆✨

A huge thank you to our amazing team, volunteers, and visitors who make Penlee such a special place 💛

Throwback Thursday 📸
Penzance Promenade, c.1910
Gibson & Sons

A photograph of the promenade with three stylish ladies approaching the photographer. The sea railings were replaced with a new design in 1896, and the whole area was paved in the following year.

Today's @artukdotorg.bsky.social #OnlineArtExchange theme is ‘Celebrations and Unveilings’, and we’re delighted to mark The Harris reopening with Gala Day at Newlyn, Cornwall, by Stanhope Alexander Forbes.

This painting beautifully captures Cornish community life and celebration!

Today is World Dream Day💤, and it’s the perfect occasion to share one of our visitors' favourite paintings—a delightful depiction of a sleepy donkey titled "Forty Winks" by Frederick Hall.

Today’s @artukdotorg.bsky.social #OnlineArtExchange theme is animals! 🐴🐕 Our choice is Alfred Munnings’ Lamorna Inn (1915), featuring landlord Mr Jory, his mare Bess, & Taffy the terrier. Munnings later added himself leaning in the doorway to this lively Cornish scene. @munningsartmuseum.bsky.social

🎨 National Day of Arts in Care Homes 🎨
Launched in 2023, Hireth: Remember Together is an innovative series of short films created by five Cornish museums to improve access to collections for people living with memory loss and their families.

📽 Our film is available 👉 youtu.be/UgF9I01645Q

⭐️Artist's Spotlight⭐️The 'Queen of Newlyn', Canada-born Elizabeth Adela Forbes, nee Armstrong, was one of the leading women artists of her day.

Forbes was a vibrant contributor to the art colony, exhibiting and selling more work than most of her male contemporaries.

Art in the Park: Nests and Eggs

📅 This Saturday | 11am – 4pm

🍴 It’s the PZ Food Festival! While Penlee House is buzzing with beautiful bird artworks, we’re bringing nature to life with a craft activity for all ages.

🎨 Drop by our gazebo and make your own colourful nests and patterned eggs

✨ Calling all little explorers (and their grown-ups)! ✨

👶 Baby Sensory & Little Penlee Explorers session
📅 Monday 15 September | ⏰ 10am
🎨 Explore, play, and create together with our friendly education team.

✅ FREE | 🎟️ Drop-in | 👩‍👧 For under 5s + parents/carers