Cornwall is renowned for its many famous artists and the day will cover both art and social history, including crafts, pottery and textiles, as well as paintings, encompassing the late 19th century to the 1930s. Altogether it promises to be a fascinating day for all, with special emphasis for those going on the Cornish holiday from the 15th to the 20th April. Our master of ceremonies, David Tovey, is an art historian and renowned authority on Cornish art. He has an extensive personal collection of Cornish Art which will be visited during the Cornish holiday. 

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The day will look at the three major Cornish art colonies, Newlyn, St. Ives and Lamorna, with a mix of art and social history and will include some crafts, pottery and textiles, as well as paintings. It will cover the late 19th century to the 1930s. 

David Tovey is an art historian and renowned authority on Cornish art, having started life as an International tax lawyer. He later took a degree at Warwick University in Art History and has published 15 books on the art and artists of Cornwall He has  curated many exhibitions in Cornwall and around the country, often lending paintings from his own substantial collection. 

David read law at Oxford and practised as a solicitor for 20 years. He returned to University in 1996 to read History of Art and now specialises in Cornish Art. His particular interest in St Ives art derives from the fact that his great-grandfather, William Titcomb, was one of the early settlers in the colony. Since 2000, David has curated numerous exhibitions on Cornish art for Tate St Ives, Penlee House Gallery and Museum, Penzance, Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, Nottingham Castle Museum, Cheltenham Art Gallery and various other art galleries around the country. He has also published fourteen books. Six of these have been major, ground-breaking surveys of St Ives art (including a unique Social History), whilst in 2021, he published a two volume history of art in Polperro, entitled Polperro - Cornwall's Forgotten Art Centre, and in 2022, a two volume history of the Lamorna Art Colony, entitled Lamorna - An Artistic, Social and Literary History.