Plastic Free St Ives

St Ives Archive: Hyman Segal – Caricaturist of cats and people

I recently wrote an article entitled Tales from the Sloop, and while researching this subject I became interested in the lovely sketches created by Hyman Segal, many of which have adorned the walls of this historic St Ives pub for decades.

I am not an artist, nor do I pretend to know anything about art – but I have now decided that Hyman Segal is my favourite artist of all time.

Born in London in 1914, he first came to St Ives in 1946 on his return from serving in Africa in the Second World War. His initial sight of the town and harbour was from the Malakoff, and as he later stated in one of his books, it was love at first sight. It would appear that, unusually, Segal was accepted by both fellow artists and townsfolk. This is apparent from the hundreds of caricatures he drew of local people, and fishermen in particular. An

evacuee to the town during the Second World War once told me that he sketched her in her Aladdin pantomime costume after a performance at the Guildhall. He also sketched Abraham Curnow (Abram as he was known locally) several times: Abram was the town crier and road sweeper for many years.

The artist was also brilliant at drawing cats – and, of course, there were plenty of cats around in St Ives in the 1950s and 60s. He could create a likeness with as few as seven strokes of a brush.

Hyman Segal worked from a studio overlooking Porthmeor Beach, and became one of the most distinguished members of the St Ives art colony. He was a committee

member of the St Ives Society of Artists, and a founder member of the Penwith Society of Artists.

I came across a quotation by a former editor of The Cornishman, who reflected on how “St Ives, both the arts colony and the people of the town, would be so much poorer without Hyman, who has done more than any other artist to present the people of St Ives to themselves”.

And he was as good a writer as he was an artist: his book As I was Going to St Ives is full of events which he recalls vividly and with great humour. In particular, I love these words: “St Ives still has to offer those with time and eyes that see, a hoard of treasure not for sale”. He he was right, of course – it most certainly has.

Hyman Segal died at Edward Hain Hospital in 2004, at the age of 90.

Jan Harris

St Ives Archive’s Research Centre is based at Wesley Methodist Church, St Ives Road, Carbis Bay, St Ives, TR26 2SF. For information about current opening hours, phone 01736 796408, email admin@stivesarchive.org, or visit www.stivesarchive.org.

The Archive opened in 1996 and is staffed by volunteers. We are always looking for people to join our enthusiastic team – there are opportunities to learn new skills, carry out research, assist visitors and take part in fundraising events. We offer a valuable service for anyone wishing to obtain historic information about the town, free of charge. The Archive holds over 20,000 photographs and numerous documents covering fascinating subjects such as art, maritime heritage, tourism and traditional customs, and we also have extensive resources relating to the history of St Ives families. Why not come and visit us?

Registered charity number 1136882