Samuel John Lamorna Birch, RA, RWS (1869-1955)

Samuel John Lamorna Birch, RA, RWS (1869-1955)
Four Sketches: The Cliff (study for `Morning Fills the Bowl`); From the Harbour to the Hill, Lamorna; The Sanatogen Stream, Newlyn; River Scene
The first signed and inscribed The Cliffs"/ S J. Lamorna Birch., the second signed and inscribed "From the Harbour to the Hill" Lamorna./ S. J. Lamorna Birch., the third inscribed Sanatogen/ stream 1943 SJLB 30 x 22, the fourth with c.36 words of colour notes
Each pencil
Two 22 x 27.5cm; 14 x 22.5cm; 13.5 x 30cm (4)

Provenance:
The Collection of the Late Austin Wormleighton (1937-2019) (lots 1-34)

Exhibited:
(Cliffs, Harbour, Sanatogen, Colour Notes) Plymouth City Museum, Falmouth Art Gallery, Lamorna Birch RA RWS: A Retrospective (November 1987-February 1988; and August-September 1997)
(Cliffs, Harbour, Sanatogen, Colour Notes) Penzance, Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Entranced by a Special Place (June-September 2018)
(Colour Notes) Penzance, Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Lamorna Birch: A Painter Laureate (October 2025-January 2026)

Literature:
Austin Wormleighton, A Painter Laureate: Lamorna Birch and his Circle (Whitefox Publishing, 2025), p.35 (River Scene), Harbour (p.253) and Sanatogen Stream (p.384)

`The Cliff` dates from 1925 and was a working drawing for Birch's 1926 Royal Academy exhibit `Morning Fills the Bowl` (sold at Phillips, London, 1986, for £26000, a record price for the artist at that time). It is now in The Royal Institution of Cornwall in Truro. It shows the cove below Flagstaff Cottage at Lamorna. However, Birch selected a slightly different elevation for the painting itself and included the boat winch and the harbour wall.

The sketch entitled `From the Harbour to the Hill` dates from shortly after the end of the Great War. The artist's cottage is shown with its pointed gable and newly-built extension. Below it is the single-storey building used as an explosives store for the quarry operations at Lamorna (it was later converted into a home by the author Monica Baldwin).

The `Sanatogen` stream in Newlyn was so called because it ran beside the building in which Sanatogen tonic wine was made. Birch would joke that factory effluent made the trout within the stream fatter than usual.

LOTS 1-34
THE COLLECTION OF THE LATE AUSTIN WORMLEIGHTON

Samuel John Lamorna Birch, RA, RWS (1869–1955) was a British landscape painter closely associated with the artistic communities of Cornwall. Born in Egremont, Cheshire, Birch spent much of his early childhood in modest circumstances following the death of his father. His mother moved the family to Manchester where Birch began to show an early aptitude for drawing, despite receiving only a limited formal education.

Birch initially trained as a clerk and worked in cotton mills but he pursued art with determination, enrolling at the Académie Julian in Paris during the 1890s. There, he absorbed influences from French Impressionism, working en plein air and developing a sensitivity to light and atmosphere that would define his mature work. His time in France was crucial in shaping his painterly approach, encouraging looser brushwork and a brighter palette than was typical in British art of the period.

In 1895, Birch settled in Lamorna Valley in Cornwall, a location that would become central to both his identity and artistic output, so much so that he adopted ‘Lamorna’ as part of his name. He became associated with the Newlyn School and Birch’s style combined Impressionist techniques with a distinctly British sensibility, characterised by vibrant colours, textured brushstrokes and an emphasis on the play of natural light.

His subject matter focused largely upon the Cornish landscape: sunlit valleys, rugged coastlines, sparkling streams and pastoral scenes. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Birch often emphasised decorative qualities and emotional resonance over strict realism, creating works that feel immediate, lyrical and personal.

Birch achieved considerable success during his lifetime, becoming a member of the Royal Academy in 1934. His legacy in popularising the Lamorna Valley as an artistic hub and in bridging British and French painting traditions in his own distinctive idiom cannot be overestimated. Today, his work is remembered for its celebration of light, colour, and his great love of the enduring beauty of the Cornish landscape.

Austin Wormleighton (19372019), wholly synonymous with Birch expertise and a distinguished historian of the Newlyn artists, wrote the definitive biography about Birch, ‘A Painter Laureate: Lamorna Birch and his Circle’ (recently republished by Whitefox Publishing, 2025). This readable but learned account of Birch’s life shows Austin’s skill at lucid narrative (derived from a career in journalism) and his evident admiration for the artist’s oeuvre. Austin’s support of, and contributions towards, many exhibitions of Birch’s work brought him into contact with like-minded enthusiasts. He will be fondly remembered for his gentle, affable demeanour; his profound knowledge that was always lightly worn; and for his passionate love of Birch’s work.

Many of these works by Birch were included in the exhibition Lamorna Birch: A Painter Laureate at Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance (October 2025-January 2026).