Norman Garstin

Norman Garstin ( born August 28, 1847 in Cahirconlish, Limerick, Ireland, † June 22, 1926 ) was an Irish painter of the late Impressionism and a major representative of the Newlyn School, an artists colony in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Life and work

Norman Garstin first studied art and architecture. Some time later he tried his luck in the gold and diamond mining in South Africa, but did not accumulate riches in contrast to his friend Cecil Rhodes. Finally, he founded the newspaper The Cape Times. Despite his reputation as an outstanding journalist his financial situation did not improve much so that he returned to Ireland in 1877 to live as a gentleman and amateur painter.

In 1880 he enrolled in the Academy of Charles Verlat in Antwerp. From there he went to Paris, where in the studio of Emile Auguste Carolus -Duran, he was for three years. He then traveled to southern France, Italy, Morocco and Spain. In 1885 he came with members of the Newlyn School in contact, joined them a year later and settled in Newlyn. In 1890 he moved to the neighboring town of Penzance and lived there for many years Wellington Terrace close to Penlee House. He had a lasting effect the development of the artists' colony, so that it Stanhope Forbes as the intellectual mentor of the Newlyn School designated later.

Garstin was like many of his contemporaries, fascinated by Japanese calligraphy and admired the work of the American painter James McNeill Whistler. Inspired by the naturalistic tradition of the Barbizon School and the outdoor work of the French Impressionists like Édouard Manet and Edgar Degas, he aimed at an accurate and unembellished rendition of country life. His later works were anecdotal in content.

Garstin had the talent to capture the atmosphere and mystery of a special moment and this play in perceptual effects of light. Among his most famous paintings The Rain It Raineth Every Day is one from 1889, which can be seen today in the Penlee House in Newlyn. Garstin presented at the Royal Academy and the Royal Hibernian Academy from 1883. Alongside he taught for 25 years in summer courses 40 students per year.