Paintings with a social conscience,

Before we had unlimited media coverage some artists was used  their work to make people aware of the everyday lives of the poor and the workers This is by Giovanni Segantini.Find out more about him by using the link.I have seen this picture in reality ,it is very large and has incredible force.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Segantini

Here in Cornwall we had a group of artists who  painted  the lives of the local people.

These artists became known as the Newlyn Group and formed a colony in and around the village
Lamorna Cove was a favourite place for a studio or home.

An old Cornish man tending his garden in the sun.

Fisher girls.

Daily life in the village of Newlyn..

 AGroup of Scottish artist also painted pictures of ordinary life.

This portrait by Guthrie shows the character of this elderly man. vividly, all his life is written in his face.

This little girl in a muddy field,out in all weathers working.

Back again in Cornwall .

Walter Langley uses watercolour to capture this elderly lady musing.

The carefree child and the old man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

These painters and their work brought the life of the poor into view rather like the headlines and articles in today's newspapers or the writing of Dickens and others who wanted to alert the world to the sad and deprived lives of the exploited.

My view is that these are not mawkish or sentimental but at the time as needed as TV documentaries or front line journalism and photography today. I get crit for filling my blogs with pretty or beautiful images by my down to earth friends so perhaps this offering will redress that a little.

If you want something frivolous check out my new blog which is called Sweet Disorder  and is dedicated to my own view of dress!.

http//www.awildcivility01.blogspot.com