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Newlyn, Cornwall: Painting a Picture of War

People from all walks of life responded to the call to arms during World War One.

Many from the artist community based in and around Newlyn in Cornwall were among those that served Britain during the war.

Amongst those that died were John Drew MacKenzie, the founder of The Copper Works and the designer of – what many say – is the finest work produced by the copper workers.

Newlyn was also home to the artist Stanhope Forbes; who lost his son Alex just four weeks after he signed up.

Olive Mudie-Cook was a female war artist who lived and worked in and around Newlyn. At 26; she went to France as a Red Cross ambulance driver in 1916. Though she was eventually commissioned to record Red Cross activities after the war, many of her sketches were produced between 1916 and 1918, and they bring the chaos and devastation of the front-line combat vividly to life.

Location: Newlyn, Cornwall TR18 5AW
Image: Olive Mudie-Cook’s work, courtesy of IWM

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