Alfred Wallis was a Cornish fisherman born in 1855, who only took to painting later in life after his wife died.
He started painting at the age of 70 and he painted fishing scenes from around St Ives. He had no artistic training and often used household paint and scraps of cardboard to paint on.
His style is called naive and doesn't use perspective, rather the objects he painted were scaled according to their importance in the scene. His work did not achieve much commercial success when he was alive, and only gained appreciation after his death in 1942.
His works of art are now displayed in the Tate St Ives and in many other galleries and when they come up for sale, are valued in the tens of thousands of pounds!
He lived in a cottage on Back Road W in St Ives in the little court called Harry's Court. A plaque is displayed on the wall of the cottage commemorating this.
He died a pauper and his friend Bernard Leach (of the Leach Pottery) made the tiles for his beautiful grave, which can be found in Barnoon Cemetery in St Ives.
