`The St.Ives Fishing Fleet from Porthmeor Beach` 
James Lynn Pitt (1875-1922)
A sunny oil by well known St.Ives artist James Lynn Pitt depicting the distant fishing fleet on a blustery day. Lynn Pitt was a fascinating artist - confined to a wheelchair he painted the sea in all its moods from his wooden chalet on the cliffs at Porthmeor beach, now long gone. I`ve found a photo of his studio on the net, I reckon the rocks in the foreground could be the ones you can see in the photo. The shifting colours and movement of the sea are beautifully observed and rendered. Painting has been cleaned and is housed in a period frame in very good condition -ready to hang and enjoy.
James Lynn Pitt  (1875-1922) was a member of the distinguished Pitt family which had produced two former prime ministers, and arrived in St Ives with a manservant to care for him as he was crippled and confined to a wheel chair. Pitt was in the first intake of students at Julius Olsson’s school in 1895. He was from Bristol, and his first known work was shown there in 1901. One sister lived in Norway Square nearby, whilst two other sisters remained in the family home in Clifton, Bristol.
Pitt settled into the White Studio, a wooden chalet on the cliffs at Porthmeor Beach, which was open to the public, painting views of The Island and Clodgy Point, and in 1907 he began advertising in the weekly St. Ives Times, offering both paintings for sale, and tuition in art. He opened his studio for the 1911 and 1913 Show Days at St Ives.
In 1920, returning from Clifton after an illness, he found that his studio had been broken into, and eventually it was destroyed in a storm. He lies buried in Barnoon Cemetery beneath a distinctive headstone featuring an artists’ palette.