Art Colonies, Communities and Networks - Resources for Artists

These are links to websites which provide links to artists communities and art colonies - mainly in the USA

Many art colonies have grown up next to and been associated with the sea.

Information about artists communities which have developed in Cornwall - notably at St Ives and Newlyn

Nikolaus Pevsner described Southwold as "one of the happiest and most picturesque seaside towns in England." Over the centuries it has inspired countless pictures. Walberswick has proved a magnet for artists

19th century: J M W Turner sketched and painted Southwold scenes as he explored England's East coast. Charles Keene, a renowned 'Punch' illustrator produced numerous pen and ink drawings of the area. Philip Wilson Steer (1860 -1942) made painting expeditions to Southwold and Walberswick, often accompanied by Frederick Brown and Walter Sickert.

20th century: Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) spent a year in Walberswick where he produced many of his well known flower drawings. Stanley Spencer first visited the town that would inspire his paintings for over a decade. Lucian Freud's family has a long-time connection with Walberswick and have a home there. Damien Hirst stayed in Southwold while studying sculpture

These are current networks of artists which go beyond local art societies

The Barbizon community was perhaps the very first artists comunity related to landscape painting

In the early 1900s Collioure became a centre of artistic activity, with several Fauvist and other artists selecting it as their favourite place to paint. Among them were André Derain, Georges Braque, Othon Friesz, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Tsuguharu Fujita and Salvadore Dali.

Using Collioure as a base one it's also possible to easily reach other 'artistic' destinations: the modern art museum at Ceret with its Picassos and Braques, the Dali museum at Figueras, just over the border in Spain and Dali's home village, Cadaquès, further along the coast.

Attracted by the presence of the Impressionist master Claude Monet, who settled in Giverny in 1883, an international community of artists flocked there from the late 1880s through World War I. More than 70% were Americans.

My blog posts about visits to art colonies and places where there are well-known artist communities

This is a list of links to more information about American art colonies past and present

A small cape on the Massachusetts coastline is home to three neighbouring and long-established art colonies - at Gloucester, Rockport and Rocky Neck

During the first two decades of the 20th century, the village of Old Lyme, Connecticut was the setting for one of the largest and most significant art colonies in America.

Below are links to some of the websites which provide more information

Woodstock went to Woodstock for a reason!

The coastline of Maine has played host to a number of artists colonies at Monhegan and Bar Harbor while Winslow Homes was associated with Prout's Neck

Carmel - a village just south of Monetrey in Northern California became a community for artists in the early twentieth century. Latterly it has attracted rather wealthy homeowners!

Laguna Beach in California has thrived as an enduring enclave of art culture. Settlers arrived in the 1870s. In the summer of 1918 Lagunas first art gallery opened, featuring works by a growing collective of local artists. Hundreds of visitors came on opening day and, in the next month, 2,000 more visited the small art gallery. In 1932, Laguna started its Festival of the Arts and later added the equally famous Pageant of the Masters. It continues to be a magnet for painters

New Mexico has proved a magnet for artists for decades. Artists began going to Santa Fe in the early twentieth century. Taos was New Mexico's premier art colony and the first significant art colony in the American West.