RSS Feed
November 8th, 2020 
Awake Goy 
The artist I am bringing about this time is no other than Thomas Cooper Gotch a.k.a. T.C. Gotch (1854-1931) who became an international success during his lifetime as he travelled to many countries like Austria, Australia, South Africa, Italy and Denmark, places where he has work on display in key collections nowadays. His success began when he took a new artistic direction; from the pastoral images he created in his beloved Cornwall to the Pre-Raphaelite style pictures that he favoured after a visit to the Continent (i.e. Europe) in 1891, a trip that included countries such as France, Switzerland, and Italy where he absorbed Renaissance Art and subsequently adopted that change in style.
It was from this point on when Gotch’s art started showcasing a number of quasi-mystical themes in which children were the protagonists, being represented almost in a “religious”, or rather, “iconic” fashion. His daughter Phyllis became his preferred model in artworks such as My Crown and Sceptre (1893), although it was The Child Enthroned (1892) the one which attracted the most attention. The painting portrays Phyllis clad in elaborately patterned robes, seating facing the viewer in a perfect symmetrical pose. The image is almost reminiscent of medieval and Renaissance seating virgins.
Needless to say both are among my favourite paintings by Gotch, along with A Pageant of Childhood (1899), Alleluia (1896), The Dawn of Womanhood (1900) and Golden Youth (1906). I understand some of these paintings have an obvious religious focus, but it is my opinion that one has to see beyond the upper layer in order to grasp the actual spiritual meaning of such artworks, which by the way, Thomas Cooper Gotch painted so excellently.
Charles Caffin, in a Harper’s article on Gotch, blurs concepts of social and genetic reform in his suggestion that the artist’s children reminded viewers of not only the need for state education but also the spiritual and physical nurturing of a “new breed of mortals.” For this author, the “sanctity of childhood” was a “new religion” leading to the “regeneration of the race” (926-27). – Excerpt taken from Thomas Cooper Gotch (1854-1931) by The Yellow Nineties Online.
As expected the authors of the aforementioned essay immediately argue that “such language speaks of the way in which the notional innocence and purity of the white child could be co-opted into regimes of racial hierarchy”, so go figure.
In order to make things brief enough I have included below the shortest biography (+ additions) that I have found about T.C. Gotch, however if interested, I would highly recommend downloading Gotch’s biography by The Yellow Nineties Online (which can be found as downloadable PDF) in spite of the politically correct biases that the authors clearly display in their writing.
I hope people here appreciate T.C. Gotch’s works of art as much as I do. Comments, as always, will be welcomed.
Biography
Thomas Cooper Gotch or T.C. Gotch (1854–1931) was an English painter and book illustrator loosely associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement; he was the brother of John Alfred Gotch, the architect.
Thomas Cooper Gotch was born in the Mission House, Kettering (Northamptonshire) in 1854. He was the fourth son of Thomas Henry Gotch and Mary Ann Gale Gotch. Thomas Cooper Gotch spent his early years in schooling in London and later at Kettering Grammar School. After leaving school he spent three years working in the family boot and shoe business. This, however, was not a natural career option for Thomas Gotch and in 1876 he was supported by his family in following an artistic career.
Gotch spent much of his painting career based in Newlyn in Cornwall. He was one of an early group of artists to base themselves in the town. This was the beginnings of an artists’ colony which gave rise to a style of painting known as the Newlyn School. Thomas Cooper Gotch did spend some years painting landscapes and narrative scenes in the Newlyn style, however, eventually his painting interests moved him in a different direction when he truly mastered portraiture in a ‘symbolist’ style. In Gotch’s portraiture, women and children predominate with the theme of motherhood and the ages of woman being common.
In 1881 he married fellow art student Caroline Burland Yates (1854-1945) at Newlyn’s St Peter’s Church. His daughter, Phyllis Marion Gotch became a model for her father in some of his popular artworks.
In addition to his love of Newlyn, Thomas Gotch also enjoyed travelling. He lived and studied in France and Austria on multiple occasions and is also known to have travelled to Denmark, Italy, South Africa and Australia. Thomas Gotch was a recognised success during his lifetime and enjoyed considerable public acclaim. He was a regular exhibitor at London’s Royal Academy and contributed to numerous other national and international exhibitions. His works are still regularly exhibited and are often the subject of academic studies. Thomas Gotch has work in key collections in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom. The Alfred East Art Gallery is fortunate to own 42 of his works.
Thomas Cooper Gotch died on 1 May 1931 of a heart attack while in London for an exhibition. He was buried in Sancreed Churchyard in Cornwall. Also in the graveyard of St Sancredus are buried fellow Newlyn School artists, Stanhope Forbes and Elizabeth Forbes.
Sources: The Yellow Nineties Online, Project Kettering and wikipedia.
Posted in 
Tags: 
