page_title: Culture of Cornwall
section_title: Cornish art
hierarchical_section_title: Culture of Cornwall / Cornish art
caption_attribution_description: English: King Doniert's Stone site, near St. Cleer in Cornwall, UK. The stone of the right is the actual "Doniert's Stone" and bears an inscription which tells that King Doniert had the cross built for the good of his soul[1]. The stone on the left is called the "Other Half Stone" [2].
context_page_description: The culture of Cornwall forms part of the culture of the United Kingdom, but has distinct customs, traditions and peculiarities. Cornwall has many strong local traditions. After many years of decline, Cornish culture has undergone a strong revival, and many groups exist to promote Cornwall's culture and language today.
context_section_description: So-called 'Celtic art' is found in Cornwall reflecting its ancient Brythonic heritage, often in the form of Celtic crosses erected from the 6th century onwards. The Trewhiddle style is an insular style of black and white niello metalwork named after an important Cornish find from the 9th century. Many place-names are formed with the element Lan of sacred enclosures of early Cornish saints from Wales, Ireland and Brittany. The activities of these saints resulted in a shared cultural inheritance which particularly includes the post-Roman corpus of literature relating to King Arthur and Tristan and Iseult, presumed nobility of ancient Dumnonia.Cornwall boasts the highest density of traditional 'Celtic crosses' of any nation, and medieval holy wells are numerous.  The destruction of monastic institutions such as Glasney College and Crantock during the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536–45) is often regarded as the death knell of independence in Cornish language and culture; the very few remaining Cornish language manuscripts, including the miracle plays Beunans Ke and Beunans Meriasek are thought to have originated at these ancient centres of academic excellence, some areas however retain their outdoor performance spaces, known as plen an gwary. After the First World War, many new crosses were erected as war memorials and to celebrate events, e.g. the beginning of the third millennium. 
  Cornwall and its dramatic landscape and distinctive remoteness have produced and inspired many later artists. John Opie was the first Cornish-born artist of note and J. M. W. Turner visited in 1811. A number of London artists settled in the Newlyn area in the 1880s, following the building of the Great Western Railway, who went on to form the Newlyn School.
  Sickert and Whistler both visited St Ives at the end of the 19th century, and the internationally famous studio potter, Bernard Leach set up his pottery in the town in 1920 St. Ives. In 1928 Ben Nicholson and Christopher Wood visited the town and met Alfred Wallis the naive painter, native to St Ives, who was to become an important influence on a generation of British artists: particularly those who were members of the Seven and Five Society.
  At the outbreak of World War II Nicholson came to live in St Ives with his wife Barbara Hepworth; staying initially with the philosopher and writer Adrian Stokes (critic) and his wife Margaret Mellis. Naum Gabo also joined them there as well as artists who at the time were at an earlier stage in their careers: John Wells, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Terry Frost and Bryan Wynter. Other artists of international repute joined the colony later: notably Patrick Heron, Roger Hilton and Sandra Blow.
  There are still a lot of artists in Cornwall many associated with the Newlyn Society of Artists. Artists led projects like PALP and artsurgery have also been important in the 21st century. 
  Some modern crosses
caption: The 9th-century Men Myghtern Doniert (King Doniert's Stone) commemorating the last independent King of Cornwall
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