Discover the Artistic Legacy of Staithes: A Brief Guide

This brief guide was originally written by Al Milnes from the gallery for our volunteers to help them share Staithes’ artistic history with visitors. However, it’s such a fascinating read that we wanted to make it available to everyone. We hope you enjoy learning more about the artists who have been inspired by Staithes over the years.

Art in Staithes in the 19th and 20th Centuries: A Brief Guide

The Weatherill Family:

The first artist we know of painting in Staithes was George Weatherill (1810-1890). He was born in Staithes. His family owned a farm (Cliff Farm) but George was the second son and delicate in health so he pursued a clerical career rather than work on the family farm. He painted and studied painting throughout his life and his paintings were very popular during his lifetime. He was influenced by Turner and was often referred to as “The Turner of the North”.

All four of his children also painted but Mary (1834-1913) and Richard (1844–1923) painted professionally and are widely recognised as artists in their own right. Their work can be seen in the Pannett Art Gallery in Whitby where there is a Weatherill Room.

The Staithes Group:

Until the opening of the Whitby to Loftus railway line in the 1880’s Staithes was very difficult to get to, but once it became accessible artists began to flock to the town. The quality of the light, the variety of perspective offered by the steep cliffs and hillsides, the tumbledown hotch-potch of buildings and the ever-changing sea offered a wonderful backdrop to the picturesque (if harsh) lives of the fisherfolk who lived and worked here.

The new school of Impressionist artists regarded the classical and religious subjects of the establishment as stuffy and outmoded. They wanted to paint movement and light, living figures going about their daily lives. The bustling fishing port of Staithes offered a plethora of subjects and conditions for them to work with. Word spread among the artistic community and they came to Staithes in droves.

“Go to Staithes! There is no place like it in all the world for painting!”

(Thomas Barratt (1845-1924) – advice to Laura Johnson (later Knight) in 1895.

Some Key Staithes Group Figures:

Laura Knight (nee Johnson) DBE RA RWS RE 1877-1970 and Harold Knight RA ROI RP1874-1961:

Laura and Harold visited Staithes from their native Nottingham and stayed in the village for long periods between 1896 and 1907 both before and after their marriage. Laura was very young, probably still in her teens on their first visit. She regarded her time spent here as very formative. She writes at length about Staithes in her autobiographies, crediting the place and the people (both villagers and other artists) as major contributions to her artistic development. Harold was already familiar with some of the other artists, having met them at the Academie Julian in Paris. He benefited from the close association with fellow artists and arguably achieved some of the best work of his career here: lively, poignant scenes of life in the fishing community. Later he became an accomplished portrait painter.

Frederic William Jackson 1859-1918

Fred Jackson was born in 1859, the son of a photographer in Oldham. He also studied at the Academie Julian. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy and was a founder member of the New English Art Club. He was highly respected in artistic society in London, a close friend of Walter Sickert and Philip Wilson Steer. But he chose to live and work in Staithes where he was an important founder member of the Staithes Art Club and very encouraging to the younger artists. He married a local farmer’s daughter and settled in Hinderwell, although he continued to travel widely throughout Europe, North Africa and Russia.

Robert Jobling 1841-1923 and Isa Jobling (nee Thompson) 1851-1926

The Joblings came from Newcastle, where they had also been members of the Cullercoats

artistic community. The son of a factory worker, Robert left school aged 12 and became a

house painter, then later a ships painter on the Tyne. However, his talent as an artist quickly made itself known and his work was soon welcomed into the galleries and

exhibitions in the city and then in London. Isa came from a wealthy chandler’s family and

was well educated, including art studies in Paris. She was unusual for a female painter of the time, particularly in the north east, in that she was independent, lived alone and pursued art seriously as a career. She and Robert met at Cullercoats where they had both established studios. Shortly after their marriage in 1893, they transferred their summer studios to Staithes where they would continue to work for many years, returning to Newcastle during the winter months.

Frank Henry Mason RBA RI 1876-1965

Frank Mason came from Seaton Carew near Hartlepool and was educated locally before

training as a marine engineer and joining the Royal Navy. He showed an early interest in

painting, working on dazzle camouflage on ships during WW1. He later studied art at

Scarborough and from there made trips to Staithes. His work particularly featured shipping and maritime life. Later he was well-known as a designer of railway and shipping posters.

Joseph Bagshawe RBA 1870-1909

Joseph Bagshawe was from London, the son of judge and grandson of William Clarkson

Stanfield RA 1794-1867, a prominent marine painter and close friend of JMW Turner. He

visited Staithes from 1896 onwards, spending increasing amounts of time here depicting

some of the stormier and more sombre aspects of life at sea. He went out with local

fishermen before acquiring his own boat to experience it at first hand. He was very active in the Staithes Art Club and, as secretary in the early years, was largely responsible for its

expansion and popularity.

Some 30-40 artists formed what we now call The Staithes Group, painting in the village

around the turn of the 20th century and exhibiting together as the Staithes Art Club. There were also many more artists, both professional and amateur, who came to work here at that time. There have also been many artists since who have made Staithes their home and/or inspiration.

Some Later 20th Century Artists:

Lilian Colbourne 1897-1967

Lilian first visited Staithes in the 1920s and found it instantly inspiring. She moved here

permanently in the early 1930s, as she said “to save my artistic soul”, defying her family and ending an unhappy marriage in order to do so. The village was no longer home to the large group of artists that had formerly lived here but the villagers were still accepting of artists and they welcomed Lilian despite (or maybe because of …?) her bright red lipstick and flamboyant hats! She spent the rest of her life painting in Staithes, making trips to London, Manchester and other cities in order to exhibit and sell her paintings. She married again and Staithes was home to her family until her death in 1967. Her daughter, Gloria Wilson, also an artist, writer and expert on the local fishing boats, now lives nearby in Saltburn.

Eric Taylor 1909-1999

Eric was born in London and trained at the RCA. He is best known for the harrowing

paintings and drawings he made in April 1945 when his unit was among the first to liberate the concentration camp at Belsen. Many of these are in the Imperial War Museum. He was an accomplished sculptor, printmaker and ceramicist as well as a painter. After the war he moved to Leeds where he became Head of Leeds College of Art and later Deputy Director of Leeds Polytechnic. From Leeds he made several visits to Staithes, often staying for months at a time to make his own paintings. Some older village residents remember fondly a coach trip he organised for them to visit an exhibition he held in Leeds where they themselves were featured in many of the paintings. His painting of a wedding at the Primitive Methodist Chapel (now Staithes Museum) can be seen here in the building itself.

Fred Williams 1930-1986

Fred was Head of Art at a Tyneside comprehensive school until 1981 when he moved to

Staithes to work full time as a both a painter and a ceramicist. His draughtsmanship was

second to none and his drawings record with unsurpassed accuracy the structure of the

traditional cobles of the village, as well as their construction in some of the few remaining

boatbuilding yards (now almost all gone) in the area. Like many painters in the village, past and present, he was most at home working en plein air and he was a familiar presence painting, drawing and sketching outside in all weathers. His wife recalled fondly that a fisherman once offered him a piece of polystyrene to sit on when he was out painting in the snow!

John Carter 1931-2007

John Carter was an artist and educator from Teesside. As Head of Art at Eston Grammar

School and then South Park Sixth Form College he taught and inspired students who would themselves become renowned artists (eg Len Tabner, Ian MacDonald and David Mulholland) He began his love affair with Staithes as a schoolboy visiting by train from Saltburn to enjoy the “coastline unrivalled in terms of breath-taking perspectives and rugged character.” continued to visit the village. He continued to visit regularly to paint throughout his life, particularly drawn to “the fading spooky light at the beckside” at dusk. He exhibited frequently throughout the region and beyond, particularly as a cherished member of the Fylingdales Group of Artists. Many of his paintings are now part of the Tees Valley Arts collection at MIMA.

It goes without saying that this is a far from exhaustive list. Apologies in advance for the

many artists I’ve missed out. But I hope it gives a broad picture of some of the artists who

worked in Staithes in the previous two centuries. For more about the 21st century artists

working here now … pop into Staithes Gallery and say hello!

Allison Milnes Staithes Gallery 2025

Credit: Allison Milnes 

MA (History of Art) University of York

Staithes Gallery Limited