THOMAS COOPER GOTCH
1854 – 1931

Half length study of an African negro

Charcoal on paper
23 x 19 in / 58.5 x 48 cm

Drawn circa 1880 – 82
In a period Art Nouveau frame

Collection:
Phyllis Gotch (artist`s daughter)
N.L. Hall, The Island, Newquay
                   R.F. Brazier, Falmouth                  

Many people today think of the work of Thomas Cooper Gotch in terms of a painter of so-called “imaginative symbolism”, with colourful depictions of angelic children and the theme of happy childhood predominating. Yet this later transformation of artistic subject and style only occurred as a result of his study of the Quattrocentro artists on a visit to Florence during the winter of 1891-2. Prior to that date he had adopted the plein-air style of painting and fully engrossed himself in depicting the arduous realism of working life in the coastal area of southwest Cornwall. He was one of the very first artists to visit Newlyn and one of the very few to settle there for most of his adult life.

He was born in Kettering in Northamptonshire, a member of a distinguished and leading non-conformist family that had done well in boots and shoes and banking. In 1878 Gotch decided against a career in his father’s business and moved south to study art at Heatherly’s in London, transferring three years later to the Slade School. There he became friends with Henry Tuke and in August 1879 the two young artists went to Torquay to stay with Tuke’s family and then on to Falmouth on a sketching holiday. Gotch continued on to Newlyn where he met up with Caroline Yates, a former fellow student at Heatherly’s whom he was to marry two years later. Following in the footsteps of many of his Slade companions Gotch moved to Paris in 1880 to further his studies at the atelier Laurens. In a letter to his friend Tuke, Gotch was to write “I like Laurens, he is very original in composition and interests himself in it. The noise, the heat, the smoke, and the students generally depress me beyond measure, and I am played out soon every day; but one learns.” In April 1882 Gotch and his wife moved to Brolles on the outskirts of Paris and spent much time painting out of doors whilst at the same time continuing his studies in the academy. In September, Phyllis, their only child was born, and Caroline’s poor health caused the family’s return to England in May 1883.
 
It was during this period in Paris that this half-length drawing of an African man was most probably executed. A life-class study for an unknown larger composition in oils, the whole drawing resonates with a powerful artistic comprehension of the human anatomy. The dignity and the pride of the unidentified male model are evident with every stroke of the drawing. In the bottom right hand corner he has added the basic outline of how he saw the finished work, with what looks like three or four men standing in front of a group of trees. Undoubtedly a treasured work, the drawing remained in Gotch’s possession throughout his life and was only purchased by its first owner after his death with the dispersal of his studio collection.