gordon_crosby_mullion_cove_cornwall_RA

 
This beautiful and impressive Royal Academy exhibited British Impressionist landscape oil painting is by noted artist Frederick Gordon Crosby. It was painted and exhibited in 1921 and depicts Mullion Cove and its harbour in Cornwall. Mullion Cove is situated on the west coast of the Lizard Peninsula and is a small sandy beach, mostly covered at high tide, beside the historic lifeboat station and picturesque Mullion harbour. The cove is now looked after by the National Trust and the photograph of the harbour on their website is from a very similar angle to our painting and largely unchanged. Although Crosby is best known for his automobile illustrations he was also a very talented landscape painter, painting in the Scottish highlands and in Cornwall.  Two of his three Royal Academy exhibits were of coastal landscapes, of Lelant, exhibited in 1917 and Mullion Cove in 1921, both in Cornwall. Spending time in the West Country, Crosby may well have had connections to the Newlyn School artists in Cornwall, several of whom came from the West Midlands. The painting is a superb marine oil painting of Mullion harbour and vessels in the foreground with figures on the harbour wall. Beyond is the vast range of cliffs, the sea breaking against the rocks and seagulls wheeling over head.  The rich palette of blues and greens has the wonderful Cornish School hues and the brushwork is superb. This is a fantastic example of Crosby's work, painted for the sheer enjoyment of painting and was no doubt well received at the Royal Academy in 1921. 

Signed lower right.