SAMUEL JOHN LAMORNA BIRCH (BRITISH 1869-1955)
Near Paris Plage
signed S J Lamorna Birch and inscribed Near Paris Plage - Slopes (lower left)
watercolour 24 x 34.5 cm (9 1/2 x 13 1/2 in)

Birch left for Paris in December 1895 and studied at Colorassi's school until July 1896. Before leaving, his friend Stanhope Forbes suggested that he adopt the additional name Lamorna to avoid confusion with the Penzance painter, Lionel Burch. The Colorassi students sketched along the banks of the Seine and attempted to paint like the Impressionists. Birch took to smoking a pipe, grew a beard and started to sport a beret. He especially admired the painting of Sisley and Courbet, and was influenced also by Pissarro and Monet. He recalled how 'their work was a revelation to me', the French painters' influence leading to the lightening and brightening of Birch's palette.