John Emanuel (1930 -) | Cornish Figurative Artist

John Emanuel paints glorious, strong figurative art from his St Ives Porthmeor Studio

John Emanuel is a painter and etcher, born in Bury, Lancashire. He attended his local technical college in Barrow-in-Furness and apprenticed as a painter and decorator. His painting career started in 1962, and although he was mainly self-taught, he was helped by Alexander Mackenzie, Denis Mitchell and John Wells. He became a full-time artist by the mid-70’s.

He is known for his figure drawings and his nudes often painted in thick impasto and sometimes with additions of collage. He moved to Cornwall in 1964 where he has exhibited as a member of the Penwith Society of Arts and the Newlyn Society of Artists. He has had several solo exhibitions between 1975-2005 which include five shows at the Wills Lane Gallery, St. Ives, Montpelier Studio, London. His group shows from 1976 include Basel Art Fair 1978, Cleveland International Drawing Biennale, 1979, Oldham Art Gallery 1982-83, Beaux Arts Bath 1989, A Century of Art in Cornwall, Truro 1989, and Contemporary Art Fair, London 1992. He has also exhibited at the RWA and a retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Penwith Gallery in 2005.

An example of his work is in the collection of Penlee House Museum, Cornwall.

Source: www.artbiogs.co.uk