Norman Garstin

Norman Garstin (28 August 1847 – 22 June 1926) was an Irish artist, teacher, art critic and journalist associated with the Newlyn School of painters. After completing his studies in Antwerp and Paris, Garstin travelled around Europe and painted some of his first professional paintings while on the journey. He later took students to Europe to some of his favourite places.

Garstin painted plein air and was influenced by Impressionism, Japanese works and James McNeill Whistler. Some of his works are at Tate and Penlee House. Garstin was a founding member of the Newlyn Art Gallery. His daughter, Alethea, was also a Newlyn School artist.

Personal life He was born 28 August 1847 in Caherconlish, County Limerick, Ireland to Captain William Garstin and Mary Moore Garstin. He was raised by aunts and grandparents following his father's suicide and his mother's incapacitating disabilities.

Garstin attended Victoria College on the island of Jersey and then he worked in architecture and engineering for brief periods. He then travelled to South Africa where he befriended Cecil Rhodes, worked as a journalist and was involved in government in Cape Town. Alethea (1 June 1894 – 23 January 1978) The boys took up journalism and Alethea became an artist.

The family moved to Penzance by 1895. As printed in 100 Years in Newlyn, Norman Garstin was: He was a man of intensely individual impulses and opinions, and incurred unpopularity at times through his views on war and other topics. But he was a stimulating teacher and a shrewd critic, and had a true eye for a picture with old architecture and historic atmosphere, as well as a brush capable of rendering his intentions with right effect.

He was a teacher and took groups to "his favorite painting haunts on the Continent." He taught Harold Harvey, the only Cornish Newlyn School painter, and his daughter, Alethea. He was also fascinated by Japanese prints and admired the work of the American painter James McNeill Whistler.

One of his best and most famous works is his 1889 painting The Rain, it raineth every day of the Penzance promenade. The title of the work comes from Shakespeare's King Lear and Twelfth Night. "The composition of this painting demonstrates Garstin's admiration for Japanese art," says Penlee House. Crosbie Garstin as a Baby, 1887, oil on canvas, Penlee House, loan from Newlyn Art Gallery In a Cottage by the Sea, 1887, oil on canvas, Penlee House, loan from Newlyn Art Gallery The Drinking Pool, 1887, watercolour The Rain, it raineth every day, 1889, oil on canvas A View of Newlyn from the North Pier, c. 1892, oil on canvas, Penlee House, loan from Newlyn Art Gallery Houses and Boats, oil on panel, Penlee House, loan from Newlyn Art Gallery Market Jew Street, oil on panel, Penlee House, loan from Newlyn Art Gallery Saturday (an Interior View of Garstin's Home), oil on panel, Penlee House, loan from Newlyn Art Gallery

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