Norman Cornish
After thirty-three years working in the coal mines near his home in Spennymoor, County Durham, where he started at age 14, Norman Cornish gave it up to become a full-time artist. He recorded - and still does, now in his eighties - the life of his small community in Spennymoor with the sharp, unblinking eyes of someone who knows it intimately and unsentimentally. In his muscular drawings and paintings - telegraph poles on a windy day, pitmen walking home, men sharing a pint - you can feel the warmth of the pub, the biting wind in the street, the weariness of the miner’s work. Norman Cornish’s work hangs in the bar by the Great Hall.
Biography: At the age of 47, Norman Cornish took the risky decision to give up his job as a coal-miner and become a full-time artist, a ‘hobby’ he’d pursued since his teens. He still lives - and still paints - in Spennymoor, County Durham, where he was born in 1919. He is widely regarded as the north-east’s most significant post-war artist.
For further information, plus availability and prices of this artist's work, please contact Mara-Helen Wood, Director, University Gallery, Northumbria University, +44 (0)191 227 4424, mara-helen.wood@unn.ac.uk.
Details shown:
Man at Table
Domino Player
Horse and Cart
Men and Dog at Bar
Man at Bar
