Oil on canvas, signed bottom right
Image size: 24 x 30 1/4 inches (61 x 77 cm)
Framed
This landscape shows the outer buildings of the village of Zennor, found in the Cornish moors. Whilst Zennor Head is a coastal promontory north of the village, here Richmond has chosen a view that celebrates the rolling hills of the British landscape. The varied colours as seen in nature have been identified by Richmond with the artist applying the paint thickly with a palette knife.
A certain amount of thought has been given where passages of sunlight flow across the fields, rocky foreground and small buildings. The design of light versus shadow illustrates the careful adjustment given by the transitory effects of the sun. In the sky the light cloud suggestion conveys an atmosphere peculiar to that time of day as observed by Richmond.
The Artist
Leonard Richmond was born in Somerset and studies at Taunton and Chelsea Polytechnic.
During World War I Richmond served as an official war artist for Canada. In the 1920s and 1930s he was commissioned to produced posters promoting the Canadian Pacific Railway plus the Southern and Great Western Railways in Britain. His large colourful posters advertising various regions were much admired.
During the 1930s he visited St Ives regularly, taking a studio there in 1932 and setting up a painting school in 1935.
He was a prolific exhibitor at Fine Art Society, Royal Academy of Arts and also exhibited widely overseas winning several awards; Richmond was awarded several prizes including the Tuthill Prize (1928) at the Chicago International Watercolour Exhibition and a silver medal (1947) at the Paris Salon. Examples of his pictures are held by several public collections in Britain including: The British Museum; All Souls College, Oxford; the National Railway Museum; The National Trust (Cliveden); Newport Museum and Art Gallery; and Penlee House Gallery and Museum.
He passed away in 1965.
