About the Artist:

Gertrude Crompton was a British painter and watercolorist known for her landscapes, coastal views, harbor scenes, and still lifes. Born in West Tanfield, Yorkshire, in 1874, she studied at the Westminster School of Art in London under William Mouat Loudan before continuing her artistic education in Paris. By the late 1890s Crompton was exhibiting professionally, showing eleven works with the Society of Women Artists between 1897 and 1901. Her work was subsequently exhibited at venues including the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, the Goupil Gallery, and the Paris Salon.

In 1902 Crompton joined a sketching trip to Dinan, France, organized by Newlyn painter Norman Garstin, where she met the New Zealand-born artist Frances Hodgkins. The two became close friends and remained so for approximately twenty years. In 1922 Crompton married W. Robert Hall, and by 1927 the couple had settled at Polruan, near Fowey in Cornwall. The surrounding Cornish landscape became an important source of subject matter, and her paintings include views of Polperro and other coastal locations. Crompton later became a member of the St Ives Society of Artists, exhibiting with the organization from 1946 until 1952, including its 1951 Festival of Britain touring exhibition. In 1952 she and her husband moved to Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, where she spent her later years. Crompton died in 1959. Her work reflects the British landscape and watercolor traditions of the early twentieth century, combining careful observation with an interest in atmosphere, light, and the character of the places she encountered throughout Britain and Europe.