There are probably many people living in St Ives today who remember Hyman Segal. He was a very popular, caring, animal-loving member of the community.
Hyman was born in London in May 1914 and was blind for over two years in early childhood, possibly caused by measles. However, fortunately, he regained his sight and, at the age of twelve years, he won an Art Scholarship. During the Second World War he saw five years’ active service in East Africa and, on his return from War Service in 1946, he came to St Ives and joined the St Ives Society of Artists. In 1949 he was one of the founding members of the Penwith Society of Artists.
Segal occupied studio No. 10 in the Porthmeor Studios for more than half a century and it was here that he produced many caricatures of St Ives locals. With the support, initially, of Phil Rogers and then successive landlords, these caricatures have covered the walls of The Sloop for over four decades. Another St Ives Artist and friend of Hyman Segal, Frank Ruhrmund is quoted as saying “Indeed, the Sloop Inn minus Hyman Segal’s drawings – perish the thought – would be as disastrous as St Ives deprived of sand and sea”.
One person, in particular, that Hyman Segal appears to have enjoyed sketching was Abraham Curnow (or ‘Abram’ as he was known locally). Abram was the Town Crier and Road Sweeper in St Ives for some thirty years and Segal’s paintings and sketches of him have been sold to destinations all over the world.
When his collection of cartoons entitled ‘Art Colony’ was first published, the sculptor Sven Berlin is quoted as saying that it created “a cosmic laugh which echoed around St Ives Bay”.
His versatility ranged from large oil paintings to small charcoal sketches – often line drawings of cats (presumably because cats were everywhere at one time in the streets of St Ives!). An article in the Times and Echo, in 1958, shows that Segal, who was a long-standing member of the RSPCA, was calling for a Cat Hostel in the town as it was believed that ‘St Ives has more cats in proportion to human population than any other town in Britain’.
Together with his wife, Chrissie, Segal kept an antique shop in Fore Street. In March 1967, when the supertanker, SS Torrey Canyon, spilled 25-36 million gallons of crude oil into the sea off the Cornish coast, they devoted their premises entirely to first-aid treatment for birds affected by the oil spill for a month. See the attached picture – his sketch of a Torrey Canyon Survivor.
One of his most popular works is the oil painting entitled ‘Dominoes at the Sloop’, which includes many of the St Ives locals of the time.
As a result of his own ill-health in his early life, Segal was determined to give help to others stricken by disease and worked as the official Art Therapist to the West Cornwall Hospital for some twenty years. He often worked at Tehidy Sanatorium, near Camborne, helping long-stay patients through the problems of long-term convalescence.
He was a popular figure in the town until his death at the Edward Hain Hospital in December 2004 at the age of ninety.
Additional information can be found on Hyman Segal at the St Ives Archive, should you wish to learn more about his life.
By: Jan Harris
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of St Ives Local.