Newquay

This painting is a view of Towan beach in Newquay. It is one of several pictures Conder painted while at the Cornish resort as he recovered from a period of ill health caused by his frantically bohemian lifestyle. Conder’s work was often very decorative, including painted fans, murals and book illustrations. His elegant designs were influenced by 18th-century art and make-believe. Conder’s decorative approach can be recognised in the arrangement of groups of women, shown promenading and paddling, in the foreground of this painting. The seaside subject of the painting references the tradition of the French Impressionists.