Book Haven discussion

Alfred Wallis Child Pauper To Artistic Luminary
By Matilda Webb

Hi everyone, I'm Matilda Webb and I've recently published my first biography - Alfred Wallis Child Pauper To Artistic Luminary - about the self-taught St Ives artist Alfred Wallis (1855 - 1942).

Now one of Britain's best-loved artists, Wallis taught himself to paint when he was 70, after a lifetime of hardship and misfortune. He depicted the ships he once sailed on through great storms at sea, and his other memories of a vanished past. His iconic paintings greatly influenced the early British Modern Art scene in the 1930s.

I was truly shocked by some of the data I uncovered in the eight years I spent researching this book, particularly the extreme poverty Wallis lived in as a child in mid-19th century Devonport. So, as the book contains over a hundred colour illustrations of his paintings, I hope more than anything that readers will come away seeing his artworks with fresh eyes - seeing not just the charm but the resilience and experience behind them.

Please visit the book's official website www.alfredwallis.co.uk to see reviews, excerpts, reader comments and more.