The day of the move was, as I mention in the previous blog, filmed by the TV, was on the radio, and a newspaper reporter was present. None of this prepared us for the outcome - 'features' in The Mail, The Express, The Metro, and a report on BBC North-West News; then The Guardian the next day, and Granada News...
The storyline invented by the tabloids was, broadly, how a cheap terraced house had suddenly become home to a treasure trove worth a million pounds. We all found this deeply depressing - nothing very much about Dave Pearson the person let alone the artist, or the sheer wonder and splendour of his work and what there was focused on the apparent 'eccentricity' of committing oneself to a life dedicated to art and painting. In fairness the TV reports were better, and gave a more rounded impression.
Even The Guardian the next day stated - quite wrongly - that the Van Gogh Bedroom piece, something that Dave created during the 60s, formed the centre-piece of the restored studio, whereas this piece, made of papier-mache, has been almost totally lost or destroyed. Again, the feeling was of a story run primarily for the sake of filling newsprint.
We should have been prepared, but it was still upsetting. The only good thing was the response from any number of people who saw through the nonsense and recognised both good painting and a human story. Visits to the See gallery over the last weekend increased massively, and people have responded in a generous and good spirited manner to the distortions in the press.
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