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HENRY SCOTT TUKE, RA REA RWS NEAC (1858-1929)
Henry Scott Tuke was born in York on 12 June 1858. His father, a doctor and Quaker, suffered ill health and the family moved first to Falmouth, in Cornwall, and then, in 1874, to London. For the next five years, he studied at the Slade School of Art under Sir Edward Poynter and Alphonse Legros. In 1880, he travelled to Italy on a Slade scholarship, where he made his first nude life drawings and was inspired by Arthur Lemon, who was living in Florence. He then studied in Paris under Jean-Paul Laurens, Olivier-Merson and others.
He returned to England in 1883 as a follower of Bastien-Lepage and associated himself with the plein-air painters of the Newlyn School, in Cornwall. In 1885 he settled in Falmouth, and produced work close in style to his friend Stanhope Forbes. Soon after his arrival in Falmouth, he bought the Julie, an old French brigantine, and lived abroad for the best part of three years. He helped to found the New English Art Club in 1886 and, two years later, was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists.
As the result of a six month stay in Italy, Corfu and Albania in 1892, Tuke began to adopt a much brighter palette and a more fluid technique; the latter is exemplified by the marine watercolour included here. His preoccupation with painting naked youths in the open air proved controversial in the conservative society of Falmouth and he had to import models from London. He also kept a London studio, in which he spent his winters painting portraits. After 1900, he was elected to the Royal Academy (ARA 1900, RA 1914) and the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours (ARWS 1904, RWS 1911). In addition to many visits to France and Italy, he made an exceptional journey between 1923-24 to the West Indies and Central America. While exploring the interior of Belize, he fell ill and was forced to return home. Though he never fully recovered his health, he continued to travel whenever possible. He died in Falmouth on 13 March 1929.
Further reading: David Wainwright and Catherine Dinn, Henry Scott Tuke: Under Canvas, London: Sarema Press, 1989
