Walter langley Exhibition at Penlee House

 Walter Langley Exhibition at Pendeen House, Penzance, 25 May - 1 October.

This extensive show of 60 works by Walter Langley commemorates  the 100th anniversary of his death aged 70 in 1922
One picture has been sent from Texas. It’s long title ‘In Faith and Hope the World Will Disagree but All Mankind’s Concern is Charity’ indicates where he stood on social questions.

There are oil paintings but also large watercolours in which Langley documented the lives of working  folk in Newlyn, with the whom he had empathy as he came from an ordinary background in Birmingham. He was a pioneer in Newlyn, setting up his studio in 1882.

What struck me as I looked at these narrative works showing tragedy and sorrows was how much tastes have changed. Yet all over Europe and America at this period art dealt with the painful drama of ordinary life. Photography became available but many of these artists employed locals to sit and be studied at length and Langley shows a great sympathy for his characters in the gentle detail and subtle colour he uses.
He shows men reading newspapers, one is entitled ‘the politician’, and Langley is reported to have taken an interest in politics himself at a time when workers had such terribly hard lives. Langley was a friend of the atheist anti establishment liberal MP for Northampton, Charles Bradlaugh,  and was known and criticised in Newlyn for sharing similar views.

Now pain and death, living in poverty, hoping for loved ones to return safely from fishing, reading a message from a far away lover, are all dealt with in other media - a news story, a film, an appeal for support online etc.

Langley does so much in these works to engage our feelings alongside our admiration for his remarkable technique and careful composition.
Having one image and time to contemplate it one to one makes a great impact and the images would have reached a wide audience in exhibitions.

The portrait of Langley at his easel by Carey Morris and a droll caricature by Fred Hall indicate that Langley had a lively and jaunty disposition.

Seeing the variety of Langley’s works is very impressive and I think this show will make his place in art history more secure.
He is part of a whole movement of artists with similar interests but his particular observation and intensity of feeling stand out.