Sir Elton lends museum paintings

“We are enormously grateful to Sir Elton John for lending us eleven of Henry Scott Tuke’s paintings from his private collection,” said RCM director Hilary Bracegirdle.

“Tuke was a major British artist and Catching the Light, which is being curated by local author and art expert Catherine Wallace, is the biggest and most important exhibition of his work ever to have been staged.

Sir Elton’s collection includes works in oil, pastel and water-colour.

Other works by Tuke have been lent by the Royal Academy, Tate Britain and the National Portrait Gallery and the event is said to be the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of the artist’s work to date.

Tuke was one of the most important artists of the Newlyn School in Cornwall and his paintings celebrate male youth and beauty and reflect his lifelong love of the sea.

Although his work was neglected for some years after his death, his importance to Cornwall, and to British Art in general, has now been widely acknowledged.

Tuke bought a cottage overlooking Falmouth Bay in 1886, from which he could paint the varied shipping in the harbour, and later purchased an old fishing boat, the Julie of Nantes, which he converted into a floating studio.

The Tuke exhibitions take place at the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro from May 10 to July 12 and at Falmouth Art Gallery from May 3 to July 12.