Art in 'Planet Ocean' - Part One

1

Oceanic II by Bryan Wynter

This vibrant blue, black, grey and cream oil on canvas is one of the first things you see when you walk into the Planet Ocean exhibition.

Artist Bryan Wynter was born in London in 1915 and studied at Westminster School of Art from 1937 to 1938, and at the Slade School from 1938 until 1940. In 1945 he moved to Zennor, Cornwall. The following year he co-founded the Crypt Group in St. Ives. It later became known as the Penwith Society of Arts.

Like many of the other artists who relocated to Cornwall during and after the Second World War, the sea served as frequent inspiration for Wynter. He began as a landscape painter, but from the mid-1950s his work became more abstract.

Oceanic II was made in 1963 and purchased for the city’s permanent art collection in 1964. It’s a dramatic work that almost jumps out at you from the wall with colours, lines and shapes that follow the flux, flow and layered movement of the sea.

2

A Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach by Stanhope Forbes

Even though it’s been on display many times since it was acquired in 1962, A Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach by Dublin-born artist, Stanhopes Forbes (1857-1947) still blows people away.

Forbes began his art studies in London at the Lambeth School of Art, followed by a period at the Royal Academy Schools. In 1880 he travelled to France. French art was really pushing boundaries at the time and an important aspect of this was ‘plein-air’, or out of doors, painting.

Having already spent time in Paris, Forbes travelled to work in the villages of Brittany where many artists had already settled and were busy capturing their idyllic surroundings. Many of them would later settle in the Cornish fishing village of Newlyn, the place Forbes moved to himself in 1884. It was in Newlyn that he painted this plein-air masterpiece.

He initially worked on extensive sketches, many using oil paints on canvas. He then worked on his canvas for nearly a year, finally displaying A Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach to critical acclaim at the 1885 Royal Academy exhibition.

Come and marvel at the quality and detail of the scene he captured in the outdoors – the weather-beaten fishermen in their sou’wester hats and smocks; the hard-working fisherwomen in their shawls and traditional ‘towser’ aprons; the auction activity taking place on the beach; and the fleet of Cornish luggers with their distinctive red and brown sails in the background.

3

Under the Equator by Herbert Francis Williams-Lyouns

Plymouth-born artist and engraver, Herbert Francis Williams-Lyouns (1863-c1933) trained in Boston and Paris and painted religious and mythological subjects as well as landscapes and seascapes.

Here, he captures the ocean off the coast of Lima, Peru, near the equator as the sunlight dances on the surface of the water.

Information about Lyouns is scarce but we know he lived in Plymouth, Ashburton and Kingsbridge at different times in his life. We also know that he travelled widely. He’s recorded on a series of passenger lists which indicate that he spent a great deal of time moving between the UK and USA from the early 1920s until he passed away, no doubt witnessing the Atlantic Ocean in a range of states and conditions.

4

Black Death – Crown of Thorns by Morel Doucet

This stunning and unusual porcelain work was acquired by The Box in 2021 thanks to The Contemporary Art Society’s Omega Fund.

Haitian-American artist, Morel Doucet is based in Miami and works across a range of mediums including ceramics, illustration and print. Through his work he examines the realities of migration, displacement and climate-gentrification – the term used to describe the way extreme weather events can reshape the identity of towns and cities.

This pair of elaborate pitchers have been made in the Rococo style and are decorated with the textures of coral, sea sponges, shells and other flora and fauna. They’re a metaphor for how vulnerable the biodiversity of Miami’s coastal areas is, and the resident African-American and Caribbean communities who are affected by it.

Planet Ocean runs until 27 April 2025 and is open from 10am-5pm Tuesday to Sunday and selected bank holidays. Entry is free! Keep your eyes peeled for our second post about art in the exhibition which will be published next week.