Arts Features

I can remember as a young child, a trip to Plymouth Museum meant racing up the stairs two at a time to gaze at the fish painting which hung on the wall.

You could see it from the entrance hall, the huge picture of a beach where flat fish looked like they were still flapping on the sand and fishermen and women were seen discussing the catch.

Even at an early age I could tell it was a masterpiece.  The light made the sand look wet and the fish catch looked shiny and fresh.

The artist's painting shows what life was like

Painted by Newlyn artist Stanhope Forbes, this picture is one of the best known of any of the Newlyn painters and one of the most treasured pieces by Plymouth Museum.

Born in Dublin in 1857, Stanhope Forbes went to study art at the Royal Academy Schools in London until 1880. 

After a short time in France he settled in Cornwall, where he married and founded the Newlyn School of Art in 1899 with his wife.

His picture, Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach, had earlier boosted his reputation when it was accepted by the Royal Academy in 1885.

It was his style, gained from working with other artists, of painting out in the open air, that transformed his work from good to incredible.

Now the museum is trying to encourage more people to see this spectacular painting and realise the social history behind it.

Adam Milford from the museum's education department said it's one of the best ways of discovering more about the artist and the times.

"It means pulling the painting apart and looking at it from a different angle."

Bit by bit the scene is explored for young and old minds alike. 

A group of children make fish out of willow

The style of painting is looked at from the block brush technique Forbes used, to the size of the canvas and how difficult it was to paint outside, as well as the characters he focused on.

Adam Milford added: "You can see the auctioneer, women carrying baskets and some of the traditional boats used at the time, the Mounts Bay Luggers.

"By studying the clothes we're able to see what was happening at the time by looking at this snapshot of 1885."

The interactive exhibition at the museum runs until the beginning of November 2008.

It's a chance for a hands-on feel for life in the South West at the beginning of the 20th century and for visitors to explore not only the painting but what made it the piece it is today.