Black Steamship

This picture joined works in the museum by other artists associated with St Ives, who admired Wallis' directness and unselfconscious naive style. A fisherman and scrap merchant, Wallis started to paint at the age of 67 'for company' after the death of his wife. He painted in ship's or house paint on irregular scraps of wood and cardboard given him by a nearby grocer, and had an instinctive feeling for abstract design. His seascapes, set in shallow space and painted without knowledge of traditional perspective, create a sensation of all-round vision.