Buried treasure
THE joys and fears of miners will be celebrated at the UK’S first gallery dedicated to mining art, which opens in Bishops Auckland, Co Durham, on October 21. It’s part of a £70 million revitalisation of the town, centred on 900year-old Auckland Castle, the Mining Art Gallery will explore the development of mining art as self-expression, focusing on the experimental works of miners, their spirit and energy, their claustrophobia underground and their evenings in the pub. It will also draw attention to the significance of the industry, which, at its peak, employed more than a million men, a quarter of whom lived in the North-east.
Particularly rich in works from the Spennymoor Settlement, five miles from Bishops Auckland and home to acclaimed artists Norman Cornish and Tom Mcguinness, the Mining Art Gallery will also include examples from the Ashington Group of Northumberland and mining artists of Yorkshire and Wales.
It will become the permanent home of the Gemini Collection, one of the most significant assemblages of mining art in Britain, with more than 420 paintings and works on paper amassed by Bob Mcmanners and Gillian Wales, who, over the past few decades, have dedicated themselves to saving mining art from following the industry into oblivion. The gallery will also pursue a research and development programme, enhancing the local history of the region.
As part of the revitalisation of the town, the Auckland Castle Trust plans to open a Spanish Gallery in 2019 to house its permanent collection of works from the Spanish Golden Age, including the ‘Jacob and his twelve sons’ series by Zurbarán—which was almost auctioned by the Church Commissioners in 2011 to fund the castle’s upkeep, before a generous hedge-fund manager/ art-lover stepped in with £25 million (COUNTRY LIFE, December 3, 2010 and September 18, 2017)—and pursuing partnerships with the Museo del Prado, Madrid. The restoration of the castle will be completed next year.