Walter Langley RI RSA (1852 1922)
Walter Langley was born in Birmingham and trained there and in London as a lithographer. By the time he was thirty, painting had overtaken lithography as the focus of his attention and Langley moved to Penzance in 1882 to become the first of the “Newlyn School” painters to settle in the far south west of England. Unlike most of the famous artists who subsequently formed this energetic group, Langley’s background was very much working class. His paintings in oil and, particularly in watercolour “portrayed scenes of everyday life in a small fishing village, highlighting the adversities and tragedies that were commonplace during that period. It can be argued that Langley’s work displays a greater sympathy for the hardships of the inhabitants of Newlyn than that of any other artist” (Penlee House Museum and Art Gallery, Penzance).
