JOHN ANTHONY PARK, ROI, RBA (1878-1962)

JOHN ANTHONY PARK, ROI, RBA (1878-1962) and painting En Plein-Air

John Anthony Park was an oil painter active in the early 20th century, predominantly in the Cornish seaside town of St. Ives. Park mainly worked on scenes that were inspired by his surroundings - seascapes, harbours, and general maritime subject matter. An impressionist painter with the brushstrokes in his works likening to those by Monet and colours reminiscent of Renoir and Manet - Park puts a spin on this style that slightly differs to his contemporaries on the continent.

Like many impressionist painters, Park enjoyed painting en plein-air, painting outdoors and immersing himself in the surroundings which he captured on his canvas. Painting en plein-air rose in popularity in the 19th and early 20th centuries after French artists Daubigny and Rousseau decided to go against the tradition of studio painting while studying at the Barbizon School and took to painting in nature - following the light and weather conditions as accurately as possible while painting.

Traditionally, artists painted indoors in their studios as paints were not portable due to the necessity of artists to mix them themselves from raw pigment which had to be self-ground. This was quite a messy process and not convenient for working on the go. However, in 1841 American artist John Goffe Grand developed the collapsible paint tube, allowing remaining unused paint to be stored without drying out for later use. This major development allowed paint to become portable and for artists to bring their creativity wherever they so desired.

This month we have a wonderful example of Park’s en plein-air painting of his typical subject matter of St. Ives. The broad brush strokes and flattening of the picture plain is typical of Park’s work, and of his contemporaries and is a fine example of early 20th century painting.