Annie Walke

Annie Walke or Anne Fearon Walke (1877 in Banstead, Surrey – 1965 in Penzance) was an English artist. furthered their studies in Dresden, Germany. About the turn of the 20th century Miss Fearon settled in Cornwall, where she continued her studies and established a studio in the Cornish coastal village of Polruan.

After she married Nicolo Bernard Walke in 1911, she moved with him to St Hilary, Cornwall. where her husband became the vicar in 1913.

She was a member of the Newlyn School and other artists' organizations and created portraits and religious works for churches. Her work has been exhibited in England, Paris, America and South Africa. In the latter part of her life Walke was a published poet.

Personal life Anne Fearon was born in 1877 in Banstead, Surrey (just outside what is now the border of Greater London), |group=nb who was born the year after Anne's birth. Bernard Walke was appointed St Hilary Church's vicar in 1912, but not instituted to the living until 1913. He remained vicar until 1936. The couple was described by Newlyn School artist Laura Knight: They were both long and thin, and Ber always wore dandy silk socks - he was not in the least like a parson to look at. A man with ideals that he lived up to — he was big-hearted enough to understand anyone and had it in him to enjoy vulgar fun as much as any. After we became intimate we often went to stay with the Walkes at St Hilary, as simple as any monastery in its furnishings.

Newlyn School Walter Langley, The Greeting, 1904. Made by another member of the Newlyn School. Walke met Laura Knight at an exhibition in Newlyn, but Annie and Bernard met more individuals from the Newlyn School through introduction by Alfred Munnings in 1915. Walke was a member of the Newlyn School, an artist colony in the Newlyn area of Cornwall. Because of his close association with area artists, her husband's book Twenty years at St Hilary is often used to research information about Cornwall artists.

St Hilary Church commissions Although the medieval St Hilary church was rebuilt in 1853, it lacked interior decoration. Works by Annie and some of their artist friends, like Laura Knight, Dod Procter, Ernest Procter, Harold Harvey, Roger Fry and Phyllis ("Pog") Yglesias were commissioned to decorate the church. These artists from the "Lamorna Group", created altarpieces, panels and other works. The church "became one of the most notable shrines in the country." The Black Boat, oil on panel Head and shoulder portrait of a woman, oil on canvas London Child II, oil on canvas Portrait of a gentleman in a Spanish cloak (Reverend Bernard Walke), oil on canvas Questioning the man born blind, oil on canvas board

Serapheta Convalescent Sorrowful Women, oil on canvas, stamped with the retailer's mark of James Lanham, St Ives. Thou Art Peter, oil on canvas board Toilers, oil on canvas White Tulips, est. 1940s, oil painting, Penlee House, Penzance

Works for churches Her works include:

For Truro Cathedral A triptych altar piece Christ Mocked, ca 1935, oil on canvas, Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, Cornwall Preaching from the Hill, oil on hardboard, Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, Cornwall Reverend Bernard Walke and His Mother, oil on canvas, Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, Cornwall St Christopher, oil on board, Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, Cornwall

She has also commissioned work from St. Anselm's Catholic Church St. Mary's, Graham Street, London A Plympton church Penzance Girls' School Chapel St. Hilary Church.

Exhibitions Her work was shown at the following exhibitions: A selection of seven poems by the artist Annie Walke (1877–1965), Camborne (44, Trecarrack Road, Pengegon, Camborne, Cornwall): Philip Hills 2000.

The books are available at the Cornwall Centre.