An Artist's Estate

To Byzantium and Beyond

2012-02-12T17:21:00.000Z

We've chosen this self-portrait (with arms, fungi and fishes) as the 'signature' image for the Bermondsey exhibition - now called 'To Byzantium and Beyond'. It's a favourite painting and was also used on our 2009 brochure. Now it'll be on the catalogue cover, invites and any other artwork such as posters. It's featured in this blog before now, too, but I think deserves a second - or third - showing.

We're also working on a Press Release and a Press Pack, a mailing list, and Margaret more specifically is working towards the production of the catalogue.

Selecting work

2012-02-03T08:41:00.000Z

Yesterday Margaret Mytton, joined by Edward Lucie-Smith and Julian Williams, spent the day choosing paintings for the forthcoming exhibition in London.

Above Margaret, Chris Pearson and Edward look through photographs of paintings from the two enormous 'Byzantium' series to select paintings for the Bermondsey show. 6 pieces were selected - although these would each be in the form of large diptychs or triptychs - one is made up of 5 large canvas panels.

These paintings will make up the core of the exhibition, but decisions were also made to include a group of self-portraits, some of the work Dave made during the period of his hospitalisation and treatment for cancer, and other examples of his wide-ranging and prolific work, including some playful assemblages and constructions Dave made for the Globe Arts Studio Christmas exhibitions.

London

2012-01-26T08:48:00.000Z

To London. In part to visit Bermonsey Art Space, where we'll be showing a selection of paintings by Dave Pearson in April, including a number of the large multi-paneled pieces from the 'Byzantium' series (one, 'The Cafe' above - note where the panel illustrated in my last blog sits, bottom right) which he worked on during the 1990s. Also to discuss a way of selling Dave's work should any interest arise from the London show. I'm also using the opportunity of this being the week of the International Mime Festival to catch a couple of shows, as well as visiting the Anselm Kiefer at the White Cube across the way from BAS.

I met Margaret Mytton at the weekend and we decided on a designer for the exhibition catalogue, and yesterday evening I went to Dave's old studio at 54 Manchester Road, and met Julian Williams, who has been doing a heroic job moving (single-handedly) Dave's larger pieces around the building so they are now arranged series by series, so selection for the exhibition in London will now be a much easier task.

Connect!

2012-01-20T08:40:00.006Z

Not only do we now have a Dave Pearson Trust Twitter account, but there's also a Facebook page - simply, The Dave Pearson Trust, (link here) with some great galleries of paintings which are worth a good look. The ability to put up these galleries is, to my mind, one of the great benefits of Facebook and something we'll certainly expand as time goes on.

The reason for this activity? Well, to make the most of the forthcoming London exhibition, and as a way of letting anyone who is interested know about future opportunities to visit and see Dave's work.

2012-01-15T17:07:00.000Z

Margaret and Julian tell me that their visit to London yesterday, to measure the Bermondsey Project Space in Willow Walk and discuss plans for the April exhibition with Mick Bateman of Crisis, was extremely useful.

The planning of the exhibition is now well under way. I'm looking at the design and print for a catalogue; Julian is planning the logistics, and Margaret is working with Edward Lucie-Smith to select, curate and hang the show. Throughout Mick Bateman will act as the main link within the gallery itself, both creatively and practically.

All this, of course, will be expensive, and over the next week or so we'll have to plan and manage the costs of the exhibition; listing the potential expenses and selecting our priorities because our funds are, inevitably, limited. Throughout the main consideration will always be what will serve the purposes of the Trust best - namely in the enhancement of Dave Pearson's reputation as a painter.

Tweet the Trust

2012-01-08T15:22:00.002Z

We now have a Twitter account - @dpearsontrust . Follow us and find out how things are progressing towards the show at Bermondsey in April; and more, of course!

Planning for the Spring exhibition

2012-01-04T12:45:00.004Z

A gouache from the late 1960s, on the Van Gogh theme

I met with Margaret Mytton, Julian Williams and Jackie Taylor yesterday to plan and allocate our workloads in order to have things ready for the Spring exhibition of Dave's work in Bermondsey, London.

Margaret had prepared an agenda and list of jobs, which we went through, discussed and decided who would undertake each of them. Of course everything needs to be tightly co-ordinated. For example the appropriate paintings need to be identified and selected, then moved into position for measuring and (where necessary) photographing, in order that the designer has the details and images to undertake the design and then have the job be at the printer in time for the catalogue to arrive at the gallery well in advance of the exhibition opening. Meanwhile a designer and printer need to be found, and the gallery space needs to be measured and a plan for the exhibition drawn up so we can be certain that there's enough space for the selected pieces and, of course, that they make aesthetic and logical sense being hung together. The main issue is the lack of space at Dave's old studio, which means moving large and heavy canvases around is a time-consuming and difficult operation, with the constant danger of damaging them.

Margaret and Julian have the major part of the work to undertake. Margaret is planning and curating with Edward Lucie-Smith and Mick Bateman, as well as photographing and collating information about the works. Julian is largely moving, organising and transporting the pieces, as well as looking into publicising the event. Because of my own heavy workload at the theatre during this period I've slightly less to do, but I have agreed to oversee the design and production of the catalogue, and help with the press releases.

The exhibition, at Bermondsey Project Space, is scheduled to open on Thursday 19th April, and run until 13th May.

A New Year

2012-01-01T13:08:00.004Z

This drawing by Dave, part of a typically large set of works in graphite called collectively 'In The Seven Woods', is one of my very favourite pieces and in its richness, in its mixture of imagery that depicts both joy and darkness, it's well suited to express the feelings I have at this time of transition.

We've a large exhibition to look forward to in April, and on Tuesday I'm getting together with Margaret Mytton and Julian Williams to begin to plan the work that needs to be done. During this period I'm going to be very busy with my own theatre work so I can't dedicate much time to the exhibition. Fortunately Margaret has been awarded research time from MMU to help curate the show (with Edward Lucie-Smith) and prepare the catalogue, and Julian will be able to oversee the more physical work of preparing and transporting the pieces from Rossendale to London.

The Trust also want to make the most of this opportunity. It's something that we've been working towards since Dave's death and our formation into a trust and we are clear about the need to make certain that the exhibition is well publicised, and that we're in a position to use it to spread awareness of Dave's work. All this needs time - to prepare, to publicise the event, and to have in place press releases, information sheets, and anything else that will help us to put the work on the cultural map. The work starts now...

A visit to 54

2011-12-23T11:56:00.001Z

As work winds down for the Christmas break, Margaret and I found time to meet up at the studio on 54 Manchester Road, and welcome two visitors, David Maclagan and Lynne Green, to show them around the studio and look at some of Dave's work.

David I last met 30 years ago, but I've followed his writings in Raw Vision, as he is an artist, writer and lecturer who has a special interest in Outsider Art and art therapy. Lynne, it slowly dawned on me, is the writer of a book about the painter Wilhelmina Barns Graham, and I had a long discussion in the summer with an old friend, Jenny Wilson, who is a Trustee of the Barns Graham Trust, swapping notes on the issues faced by trustees of trusts that hold the legacy of a single artist.

David is currently working on a book about 'automatic' drawing, as part of his work on imaginal psychology. Automatic drawing extends, I suppose, from doodling through to the use of the technique by certain of the Surrealists. He was interested in a number of pieces by Dave Pearson which appear to use a similar technique, and he left with half a dozen such drawings to consider for his book.

News from MMU

2011-12-17T09:23:00.000Z

A small ink drawing from the late 1960s when
Dave's work centered on a Van Gogh theme.

Followers of An Artist's Estate will have noticed a long interval since the last post. Apologies - I've been working on getting two Christmas productions on stage; Margaret Mytton has been involved in one of the busiest periods of work on the Foundation Course at MMU, and Julian and Jackie of the See Gallery have been moving house.

Now finally things are beginning to wind down, and Margaret emailed me with very good news which will enable her to take a central role in planning and curating the forthcoming exhibition (in April 2012) of Dave Pearson's work at the Bermondsey Place Gallery. She wrotes "MIRIAD - Manchester Institute for Research and Innovation in Art and Design - has agreed to fund replacement teaching time for me during this period. This will be an absolute life saver in that I'll be able to focus almost entirely on the exhibition and the catalogue. January will also be a very busy time in terms of planning for the exhibition and the catalogue..... What it means is that I will remain Admissions Tutor, most of which work I'm able to fulfil away from college....but I will have a period of leave from early February (excluding the interviews) until May."

From what I heard later the offer will extend to supporting the production of a catalogue for the exhibition, which Margaret will co-curate with Edward Lucie-Smith.

A discovery

2011-11-26T10:05:00.004Z

Interesting - following a link on BBC Your Paintings website to the Public Catalogue Foundation (click here for your own link) I discovered three paintings by Dave Pearson in the University of Liverpool collection - and a link to a current exhibition, A Matter of Taste at the University of Liverpool where an, excellent, untitled painting by Dave has been selected for inclusion by Bryan Biggs, Director of the Bluecoats Gallery in Liverpool (below).

'To Byzantium' online

2011-11-21T08:43:00.002Z

You can now watch the whole of Derek Smith's film about Dave Pearson free on-line. Go to :

http://communitychannel.mediatrust.org/video/-8E5Ne2wei8/

This is available through The Community Channel. Their own description of the film is:

Artist Dave Pearson lived in Rossendale for forty years but few people would know about the extraordinary world he created in their midst. When he died, Dave Pearson’s friends and family opened up his studio and discovered his life’s work: twenty thousand drawings, prints and paintings. Pearson had shunned publicity and had sold very little work, the building around him was disintegrating.

This film is about the efforts of a small group of dedicated people to rescue the work of Britain’s best, least known painter and present it to a new audience. The film explores what made Pearson so special as an artist but most importantly it documents the epic task involved in bringing Pearson’s work back to life and in restoring his once derelict working space. The studio is now ready to become a focus for art in Rossendale Valley and beyond. Pearson, an unknown artist, is now poised and ready to enter the pantheon of British art.

A week is a long time

2011-11-12T18:37:00.006Z

This has been an eventful week for the Trust.

First, Chris Pearson told me on Thursday that our solicitor telephoned to say that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs have closed the files on our case about the Death Duty on Dave's estate. This had been hanging over us for well over a year and, although I felt sure that we had done everything correctly, it meant all our financial transactions had a deeply worrying shadow hanging over them. Chris, in particular, had been very affected - unable to get work done on the house where he and Dave had lived because of the fear of a potentially enormous tax bill.

Another interesting development was a three way discussion between Sergei Reviakin, Edward Lucie-Smith and Margaret Mytton comparing some of Dave's work from the 1990s with Andre Masson and Pavel Filonov. Edward had started this off on his visit commenting how some of the works we showed him reminded him of Masson....

Animals - Pavel Filonov

Interior - Dave Pearson

Tower - Andre Masson

Rock Pool - Dave Pearson

Finally last night To Byzantium was shown on the Community Channel at 10pm. Apparently it's being shown again tomorrow (Sunday) at 1.30 pm and Wednesday 16th at 10.00pm.

A lot to be grateful for.

Visitors, and colour

2011-11-06T16:35:00.002Z

Chris, Margaret and I have spent most of the weekend at Dave Pearson's Studio in Haslingden, showing Dave's work to Edward Lucie-Smith; and a Russian collector, Sergei Reviakin - who is a friend of Edwards.

This has been a stimulating meeting for the members of the Trust. Wonderful for us to hear our guests sharing our enthusiasm for these unseen and largely unknown works, but also there's a tremendous amount for us to learn about the London art market - quite apart from the international one. Edward and Sergei have been very generous in giving us advice on these things, and left us with lots to consider and decide on before we move on to the next stage, including the London exhibition, opening late April 2012, in Bermondsey.

Among a wide-ranging discussion, we talk of the history of the white planters in the West Indies and the influence of Lancashire (and cricket) in the independence movement, Byzantine architecture, animation, and, of course, lots about the London art scene. We talk of the art and impact of using colour, sadly often neglected by painters these days and perhaps more to be found in the work of textile and fabric artists. Edward talks enthusiastically about Dave's rare sense of colour...

Another busy time

2011-10-30T09:41:00.001Z

Margaret and I are both very busy with our jobs at present - Margaret with her lecturing on the Foundation Course at MMU, and myself working on a new production at Horse + Bamboo Theatre. But work for the Trust continues to move on, and in the past week we've discovered that The Return, the exhibition at The House of the Nobleman in Regents Park, London is going to remain open, and so Dave Pearson's pieces in the show will stay, for now, in this impressive setting.

Next weekend we're expecting a visit from Edward Lucie-Smith, and a contact in London who is interested in seeing Dave's work in its Rossendale setting - at his old studio, now refurbished, in Haslingden. So I met with Julian and Jackie from the See Gallery to look at how we might fill the holes on the walls of the studio. At the moment, following the number of sales from the Reveal Open Studio weekend, there are rather a lot of these. Sales of work continue too, and Julian has had buyers visiting last weekend - and another yesterday.

It's certainly an interesting time for the Trust. The planned exhibition in Bermondsey, London has been moved forward to May 2012; the idea of a major show at Dean Clough has also moved forward a step with a visit to the studio having been arranged, through Margaret, with the curators. Because of our own work commitments, it's incredibly valuable to have Julian and Jackie able to support the Trust in this way; without them a lot of opportunities to continue to develop Dave's reputation would be lost.

Conservation issues

2011-10-23T09:17:00.000+01:00

The Return, the exhibition at The House of the Nobleman finishes today. It will be interesting to know what interest there has been in Dave Pearson's work as a result. Being in London none of us have been able to travel down to see it, but we're told by a few friends and acquaintances who have made the journey, that the exhibition looks 'stunning'.

Last weekend, the three members of the Trust met with Pauline Birtwell, an expert on preserving works on paper, who works for Lancashire Conservation Studios in Preston. Pauline lives locally and kindly gave up part of her weekend to advise us as to the storage and conservation issues we face - especially of the vulnerable works on paper.

The issues are potentially daunting, but Pauline advised us to take it 'bit by bit'. Our first steps will be to buy acid free tissue paper to separate out the individual works on paper, and to buy special plastic sheeting to separate the stacked up piles of paintings. We'll need to start handling the paper works wearing gloves, and vulnerable pieces will need to be removed from the drawers and placed in their own separate boxes to await treatment.

The main issue for us, apart from the time we'll need to do this, is where do we find the additional storage room that this will ultimately require? At present the plan-chests we have may well have 100 sheets in each drawer, and the weight of these will itself contribute to the deterioration of the work. Pauline suggested looking into a Heritage Lottery Grant in order to pay both for the resources, but also for trained conservers, to undertake this work.

Split Tree Warriors - and another busy week

2011-10-16T16:08:00.002+01:00

We recently sold four of the 'outliers' from Byzantium - meaning the secondary panels that Dave designed to hang round the main panels of the Byzantium series, usually related to the architecture of the gallery spaces in which he was showing that wonderful series. Although the central Byzantium pieces are not currently for sale the outlying panels are, and those above were purchased recently. These are designed for 'The Split Tree', and so they are known as 'The Split Tree Warriors'. The buyer kindly sent us a photograph of them in situ at their new home (above); below is a photo he took when they were hanging at the See Gallery.

Meanwhile The House of the Nobleman exhibition has opened in London; Margaret and I are talking with Edward Lucie-Smith about a possible new date for the exhibition in Bermondsey and I've finally managed to move the Artlook software to a dedicated laptop with the help and support of Charles Davies of Artlook.

Small developments

2011-10-08T17:19:00.000+01:00

Untypically the three of us who make up the Trust met once again this week. This time to sort out a satisfactory arrangement with Julian Williams and Jackie Taylor (who together make up the See Gallery) with regard to the increasing amount of work they are doing for us - dealing with sales of work; framing and delivering paintings to buyers, and generally doing a lot of the house-keeping jobs that we don't have time for. Although Margaret and I both have busy full-time jobs, we're also closely involved with Trust business on a day-to-day basis but the simple fact is that the amount of work has increased recently. In part this is to do with interest generated by the film, but also the success of the Reveal Open Studio weekend, and our realisation that we now need to concern ourselves with protecting the most vulnerable work, build on the interest following the film, and continue to catalogue some of the key pieces of work.

One of these key series is, naturally, the truly awesome Byzantium series of paintings. One of which, Bridge Street, is shown above. Made up of two panels - like most of Byzantium its a group of panels - it's nearly 2.5 metres high by over 2.75 metres width. Now, with Margaret Mytton having photographed the series, I've been able to bring these images together with the measurements and finally add them to the catalogue of work.

'The Return'

2011-10-02T08:40:00.003+01:00

"Following on from the success of last year’s ‘The House of the Nobleman’ art exhibition, curator Victoria Golembiovskaya is pleased to announce her second installment in the series, ‘The Return’, opening 14th-23rd October 2011 at Boswall House, a magnificent 15,000 sq. ft. Grade I listed Regency mansion at 2 Cornwall Terrace, overlooking Regent’s Park and the nearby activity of Frieze Art Fair.

"One of the largest and most significant privately sponsored art exhibitions held during the Frieze Art Fair, ‘The Return’ explores ideas of the sacred in art, design and contemporary thought, exhibiting rare and previously unseen works from the most prestigious international collections alongside today’s most notable artists and designers. Francis Bacon, Salvador Dali, Zaha Hadid, Damien Hirst, Claude Monet and Yves Klein are just a few amongst the many represented."

Above is part of the press release about the exhibition at the 'House of the Nobleman' in London. We have been able to include several pieces by Dave Pearson in the exhibition - two are shown above. Margaret Mytton has also written the catalogue entry, part of which is below:

Dave Pearson’s prolific output rivals that of any of the 20^th century masters, yet it is only now, 3 years since his death, that his work is becoming known. Pearson was a passionate, intuitive artist whose approach was always deeply personal, yet because of the directness, honesty and intensity of his perceptions, his work always speaks to the human condition.

The work in the exhibition was produced towards the end of Pearson’s life, when he was scrutinising his own mortality, both by dissecting the moments of his own experience, and by reflecting on the thoughts of philosophers, poets and others. Paralleling the clash of thoughts and feelings, the work is a collage of photographic, drawn and painted imagery, very often involving self-portraits, which visualise but cannot fix the fleeting moment.

The House of the Nobleman

2011-09-26T19:39:00.002+01:00

On Friday we had a Trust meeting. We covered an exceptionally wide agenda - including our continued worries about HMRC and the issue of Estate Duty; pleasure at the amount of sales at the Open Studio weekend; additional worries about protecting vulnerable works on paper at such events, when our storage system can break down as visitors look through the drawers and unwittingly cause damage; and the matter of defining our developing relationship with Julian Williams and Jackie Taylor of the See Gallery more precisely.

Margaret Mytton reported back on the upcoming exhibition at the House of the Nobleman at Cornwall Terrace, Regents Park, in London. This, entitled 'The Return', and on the theme of works with a theological dimension, will include 8 newly framed works on paper by Dave Pearson, alongside a powerpoint presentation of her own collection of works from the Book of Revelation, that Dave donated to her before his death. Margaret has experienced communication problems with the curators but all now seems to be resolved, and Julian will deliver the pieces to London at the end of the month.

Following on...

2011-09-18T10:16:00.000+01:00

I spent all of yesterday cataloguing the 54 pieces of work we sold at the Open Studios weekend. This means entering them into our Artlook software. Part of the day was also altering the software's default 'Stock Information Sheet' to incorporate the statement that Edward Lucie-Smith advised us to include on the sheet, asking future purchasers to notify the Trust of any change of ownership. Now I can print a full-colour A4 sheet for each buyer that gives them the necessary information about the piece, and its provenance.

Then this morning I've written a report for the Borough Council on the open studio weekend (they gave us some funding towards it); a suggested Agenda for the Trust meeting this weekend, and a letter to our solicitor with a copy of the 'To Byzantium' DVD because we believe the Customs and Excise inspector looking at the issue of the Estate Duty may well be making his visit shortly. Although the DVD wasn't in any way made for this reason, it happens to function as the lead witness for the defense (!), in that it records, on film, the terrible state of the studio and the work in it at the time of Dave's death, and the tremendous work that has been done to remedy the situation and, as a result, considerably increase the value of the artwork.

Meanwhile Margaret Mytton is trying to arrange a small exhibition of some of Dave's work in London, although communications are proving frustratingly difficult for her. More of this in a later blog I'm sure...

Cataloguing work

2011-09-17T08:51:00.000+01:00

Photographs courtesy of Derek Smith

The three photographs above are from the Cornerhouse launch weekend. At the top, in the Cornerhouse cinema with Dave's daughter Florence front left; below that myself and Chris Pearson post-curry; and the lower photograph myself with Edward Lucie-Smith.

Edward gave us a lot of practical help. Not only helping with future showings of Dave Pearson's work in London, but also plenty of detailed advice - on what type of certification to provide buyers of Dave's work, and what information to add to those certificates, for example.

So this weekend, following on from the launch weekend and last weekend's Open Studios, there are 20 or so such certificates to produce to accompany the pieces of work sold. The new certificates will provide the following information: a catalogue number, a title, dimensions, media, a colour thumbnail image of the work, address of the Dave Pearson Trust, and a sentence or two asking buyers to notify the Trust should they sell the work to another buyer. I'll need to do this using the Artlook software, which provides a basic template, but it will need additions to create a fully comprehensive sheet using Edward's model.

A very special weekend

2011-09-11T19:00:00.000+01:00

125 people came through the studio this weekend. In addition to the three Trust members we had 5 people 'on duty' all day answering questions and showing visitors Dave Pearson's work. Julian and Jackie of the See Gallery are to thank for supervising this event, and the volunteers who made it possible to open all the rooms to the public. Not least Dave Smith who stood faithfully by his post from 10 until 5 both days.

The reaction was unanimously positive - and many people stayed to watch the film, which was shown throughout the day, on each hour. We also sold a considerable amount of work - something I'm especially happy to do after the big outlay that the Trust have had recently on the film and the launch of the film.

There's no doubt that interest and excitement about Dave is developing. This is really exciting and encourages me in feeling that the decisions we've made the past two years, some undeniably risky, have been the right ones.

Come and visit

2011-09-10T09:34:00.000+01:00

The Open Studios weekend in Rossendale starts in less than an hours time. All the main studios in the Rossendale Valley open their doors from 10.30 until 5.00 pm today and tomorrow. A great opportunity to see some excellent art and some really fascinating studio spaces.

Dave Pearson's studio at 54 Manchester Road in Haslingden (BB4 5TE) is no exception. Last night all the artists did a road trip around one another's studios. Above we see a group watching To Byzantium, the new film about Dave which will be on screen throughout this weekend, and also Julian and Jackie of the See Gallery who have helped the Trust curate the exhibit.

Roads opening up...

2011-09-08T08:57:00.000+01:00

Edward Lucie-Smith talking to Chris Pearson, Dave's son

The film-maker, Derek Smith

Derek Smith, Margaret Mytton, and Edward Lucie-Smith

Since the launch of To Byzantium (Derek Smith's film about Dave Pearson) on Sunday things have moved on quickly. The day gave us the opportunity, with Edward Lucie-Smith present at the launch, to discuss his plans for the London show of Dave's work in more detail.

But since then all sorts of new initiatives have started to emerge. Yesterday Margaret Mytton seemed to be sending me an hourly email update as Edward's plans began to take wing. First an opportunity to show Dave Pearson's series of drawings and other works on paper based on The Book of Revelation at The House of the Nobleman in Richmond, in a show associated with the Frieze Art Fair in conjunction with Victoria Golembiovskava, Curator of the House of the Nobleman. These were given by Dave to Margaret and she has hoped for some time to be able to show the previously unseen work comprising well over 200 drawings, gouaches and watercolours. This exhibition will be a wonderful curtain-raiser for the Bermondsey show too.

Then Vic Allen, the Art Curator at the Dean Clough Galleries got in touch with Margaret as a result of Edward's contacts. There is now a real likelihood of an opportunity to show a version of the London show at these wonderful galleries in Halifax. Finally, Edward has both found a sponsor for a poetry award associated with a poetry competition and is discussing the idea of commissioning a piece of music, both around the theme of Byzantium (remembering of course the common source in Yeat's poem) and tying these events in with the opening of the London show - all in a year's time.

I had a discussion about these events with Margaret last night. We're both very, very excited about what has happened so rapidly after the launch of the film. Much of the credit must go to Edward Lucie-Smith championing Dave's work, of course, as well as Derek Smith's excellent and moving film. We had wondered 'what next?' after the film, but we've hardly had time to draw breath when all sorts of roads are now opening up under our feet.

Off to the launch of 'To Byzantium' - and afterwards

2011-09-04T08:57:00.003+01:00

I'm just about to set off to Manchester's Cornerhouse cinema for the launch of Derek Smith's film about Dave Pearson, the film commissioned by the Trust and the result of over a years filming and editing. I've already seen the film, of course, but am really looking forward to seeing it on the big screen. Some screen grabs from the film below...

Four in the afternoon, and it's over. What a lovely morning; more than a 100 people at the Cornerhouse screening and all seemingly unanimous in the feeling that Derek's film is a tremendous achievement. It combines an informative approach to the story of Dave's life, with a heartfelt and ultimately very emotional story of his final years, while at the same time giving plenty of exposure to Dave's wonderful work. Derek described it, tellingly, as "a film about friendship".

Lots of the audience hadn't met one another for years, so there was also a great feeling of stories being told, reminiscences shared, and the simple pleasure of old friends meeting up. The group were family, neighbours, friends, ex-colleagues, college people, buyers of Dave's work, and ex-students, with many falling into more than one category.

Margaret and Derek gave a short introduction; I captured some of it on film, and afterwards we all retired across the road to the Palace Hotel to swap more stories, plan futures, and eat pastries.

Julian has his work cut out.

2011-09-02T09:02:00.000+01:00

Julian (of the See Gallery) and I spent a few hours in Dave's old studio yesterday making some decisions on what new pieces to display for next weekend's Open Studio event.

Of course most of the studio is crammed with thousands of paintings and drawings and isn't a showing space in the normal sense of the word. But we do have one downstairs room, and an upper landing/corridor that provide something like gallery conditions.

We decided that we should give the whole place a makeover since, broadly, the same paintings have been given prominence since we restored the building at the end of 2009. Only when a piece has been sold have I added a new painting to the display areas. Julian has also had several of the works on paper mounted and framed - these were mainly done by Dave in his last years. They look really wonderful and most have never been seen before.

There's an added urgency as the writer and critic Edward Lucie-Smith is travelling up from London tomorrow (in order to be present at Sunday's launch of the To Byzantium film) and he'll take a trip out to Haslingden for his first look at Dave's work in the flesh. So it makes sense to have the hanging finished, or as close to being finished as is possible, by the end of the day. Julian has his work cut out.

Preparations

2011-08-20T09:19:00.002+01:00

Screen grab from 'To Byzantium' - moving work from Globe Arts Studios

1,000 clear wrapped copies of the DVD 'To Byzantium' have arrived from the duplication plant. They are piled up in the See Gallery, waiting for distribution - which will start immediately after the launch at the Cornerhouse in two weeks time. They look great.

Invites have been sent out and people are beginning to call in to reserve their seats. Margaret Mytton is helping Julian in chasing people up for their RSVPs. Further, Derek Smith, the director of the film, has shown it to Alex Kann, at the Community Channel, and he has said that they are keen to show it as part of an upcoming arts season.

Mental Note: The Trust urgently needs to prepare itself for these events. We need to decide how we'll respond to all sorts of possible enquiries once the film has been released, and as it begins to be seen more widely.

REVEAL 2011

2011-08-16T16:40:00.002+01:00

A reminder that on Saturday and Sunday 10th and 11th of September we're holding the annual REVEAL Open Studios event in Rossendale.

Once again Dave Pearson's old studio in Haslingden will take part, this year with a completely new exhibition and also a special showing all weekend of the new film 'TO BYZANTIUM' about Dave's life and work.

Julian and Jackie of the See Gallery have sent out invites now for the launch of the film the previous weekend at the Cornerhouse and we're beginning to get replies. We're particularly delighted that Edward Lucie-Smith will be able to travel up from London for the showing.

A holiday break

2011-07-28T13:37:00.001+01:00

I'm taking a holiday break in a few days time so inevitably there are a lot of jobs to be undertaken in preparation both for the launch of the film and for the Open Studio weekend (10th/11th September). Fortunately Julian Williams of the See gallery will be working on things in my absence; so yesterday and today we met with Chris Pearson to discuss the jobs and make various arrangements.

First a dozen pieces of work were selected from those that remain at Dave's old house (where his son Chris still lives). These are pieces on paper from the last period of Dave's life - mainly gouaches of his hospital experiences. Despite this subject they are glowing with colour and life. They have never been seen so the Open Studio event will be exhibiting 6 or 7 of them for the first time. Julian will take this selection to be framed in the next few days. It is very much a selection - there are probably another 100 in the house. We also noted a minimum of another 1000 pieces of work on paper on the top floor. It never ends....

Julian and Chris will also start moving some of the large pieces between the house and the studio next week, so we can rearrange the display and have new pieces on show for Reveal Open Studios. The film 'To Byzantium' will also be shown that weekend.

A DVD design

2011-07-23T16:02:00.001+01:00

The artwork for TO BYZANTIUM is now complete - which includes a cover (above), a booklet insert and an inlay label for the DVD. I've also designed an invitation to be sent out to people for the launch event at the Cornerhouse, Manchester on the 4th September. Everything will go off to the print company on Tuesday.

There are only 158 seats in Cinema 2, so we're having to ask everyone who receives an invite to phone or email in order to reserve their seats.

It looks as if, from an email we've received from the film maker, Derek Smith, that an exhibition of Dave's work has now been agreed for BERMONDSEY PROJECT SPACE - for September 2012; almost exactly a year after the launch of the film.

Frame grabs from "To Byzantium'

2011-07-14T08:04:00.001+01:00

The film arrived yesterday. A box of DVD and Blu-Ray discs, permissions and credits, plus a complete hard-drive was delivered. Closely followed by a disc of screen grabs from the film. Among which:

Dave Pearson's studio in Haslingden

The waterfall at The Valley of Desolation, where Dave wanted his ashes scattered.

Haslingden scene - note the billboard headline.

A grab from rare footage of Dave teaching at Manchester Art College (now MMU).

The writer and critic Edward Lucie-Smith, who adds a critical perspective.

Now I need to design the artwork for the DVD; this will be duplicated in time for the launch of the film at the beginning of September.

TO BYZANTIUM

2011-07-03T19:29:00.003+01:00

Planning for both the completion of the film, now with an agreed title - 'DAVE PEARSON: TO BYZANTIUM', and the launch of the film at The Cornerhouse, Manchester, are well underway. This will be the culmination of well over a year of work by the Trust, and by the director of the film, Derek Smith, on and off for almost exactly a year.

The Trust are also discussing exactly how the relationship with Jackie and Julian of the See Gallery will work. Julian in particular will be taking on the arrangements for the launch. If this works out, we'll also be asking him to take a lead of planning future exhibitions of work by Dave Pearson, including - hopefully - one in 2012 at the Bermondsey PROJECT SPACE.

Bermondsey

2011-06-25T11:18:00.000+01:00

Edward Lucie-Smith speaking; Margaret Mytton
to his left

From the left: Leslie Morphy (CEO Crisis), Marcel Baetig (CEO Bow Arts),
ELS, MM, and Mick Bateman (Manager of the Project).

Yesterday afternoon I travelled down to London with Margaret Mytton to the opening of the Bermondsey Project Space. For us, this development has grown from Edward-Lucie Smith's involvement in Derek Smith's film. ELS mentioning the Bermondsey project and suggesting it as a gallery space in which to show Dave Pearson's work. Derek joined us at the opening, travelling from his house in Hackney.

The Project is a new initiative; a very exciting coming together of CRISIS (the charity for the homeless), Bow Artists' studios, and the vision of Edward Lucie-Smith. In fact quite a visionary project on all fronts, because it must have taken an imaginative leap for the charity to see the potential for artist's studios, and a gallery space, to become a building block in creating opportunities for homeless young people.

So what we saw was a brand new gallery on the ground floor of a London version of a mill building; and on the 3rd and 4th floors at least 60 artists' studios - collectively part of the Bow Arts group. The gallery was an exhuberant space, with good light, good acoustic, and with a great presence - one large and characterful space, with smaller offshoot rooms and wide corridors - a perfect place to show paintings.

We talked with ELS, who had clearly already given the idea of an exhibition of Dave's work some serious thought; as he showed us around he told us how he imagined we might use parts of the space. We also began to look at the periods available to us - this will be organised with Mick Bateman, who manages the new space and is an artist himself, and will be at some point next year. The idea of the show is thrilling, and there's every reason to think this space could develop under the management of a very dedicated, ambitious and imaginative team, into one of London's most exciting new galleries. The perfect place to show some of Dave Pearson's large paintings.

A new phase

2011-06-18T09:17:00.001+01:00

Last weekend the Trust met. We normally have a formal session every six months, although we meet more frequently, and it's not unusual for us to be in touch, over specific issues, several times a week by email.

The main items on the agenda related to the film. First the need to prepare for the launch at the Cornerhouse in Manchester set for the beginning of September; and secondly how to follow this up in order to create a momentum of interest about Dave's work. One hope would be to extend the undoubted interest that exists in the North-West to London, and that has been helped enormously by some advice and suggestions of where to show the work by Edward Lucie-Smith.

The workload involved will be large, and it has been clear for some time that neither Margaret Mytton or myself have the capacity outside of our own work to manage something on this scale. As a result we discussed taking up the proposal by Julian Williams of the local See Gallery to work more closely with us and project manage both the cinema launch and any follow-up exhibition in London.

The Trust discussed this option, and Julian came along at one point to outline his proposals. We have had three exhibitions of Dave Pearson's work at the See and have been impressed by Julian and Jackie's integrity and genuine commitment to the work. As a result the Trust have agreed to enter into this agreement with Julian, and since the meeting we've been looking at time-lines and how to formalise the arrangement.

Half a century

2011-06-07T20:01:00.001+01:00

There's a palpable push now to get the film completed. Margaret Mytton is working hard to provide Derek Smith with the extra images of Dave's work that are required to fill small sections of the film and create the necessary balance between documentary footage, talking heads, and examples of Dave's work. Derek has promised us a copy of the film in its current state in a day or two, and he has even given a preview to a colleague familiar with film production for his view. Broadly the feedback was highly positive, but still a few minor tweaks need to take place.

In the process some interesting things are coming to light. Not least through the work Margaret is doing to improve the quality of the photographed images. As she has said many times, the recording of Dave's work on camera has been piecemeal and nearly always in far-from-ideal conditions; as a result it has been a mammoth task for her to create adequate photographs for use in the film. But in the process we've seen some of Dave's earliest work...

...such as this lovely drawing of his parents at home in Glyn Road, Hackney, London; probably drawn in the early 1960s. Then there's the late work, much of which deals with his illness and hospitalisation during the last decade of his life:

Above is a detail from one of a wonderful series he made using photographed prints combined with embroidery, made roughly half a century after the drawing. 50 years of drawings and paintings that describe a lifetime.

Almost there...

2011-05-27T17:43:00.000+01:00

Two more photographs of the Byzantium exhibition at MMU's Holden Gallery, delivered courtesy of Margaret Mytton.

Meanwhile Derek Smith is at the penultimate stage of work on the film. He has found the right person for the voiceover, and is recording this, and also is editing in Edward Lucie-Smith's contributions. Margaret is working closely with him on details, and there's a dialogue going on with Loz Kaye about music, as the final film is driven very much by the wealth of interviews and narrative recorded by Derek and it may simply be that we don't need specially written music. So Derek expects to be able to show us a rough version of the all-but-complete film in a week or so.

I'm arranging for an invited launch of the film at the Cornerhouse in September, almost certainly at some time over the first weekend.

Images for the film

2011-05-17T18:07:00.003+01:00

Margaret Mytton is working hard to provide high-quality images for Derek Smith's film about Dave, and sending him photoshopped images such as these, from the installation of the awe-inspiring Byzantium exhibition at the Holden Gallery at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Easter viewings - and more sales

2011-05-08T18:29:00.002+01:00

Derek Smith continues with the editing of the film about Dave Pearson; he tells me "I want to get ahead and hope to complete the film by the end of the month to enable me to concentrate on other projects". We are still hoping that Edward Lucie-Smith will be able to provide a critical summary at the end of the film.

Over Easter I had the opportunity to try the rough-cut film out on a few friends, including Julian and Jackie from the See Gallery. Feedback was very positive in all cases, with useful suggestions about the order of some of the sections. Otherwise the responses picked up on the things that we know about - improving the quality of the still artwork images; less talking heads, more pictures....and so on.

Good news on the Estate front too. The Valuation Office has finally accepted our valuation of the studio; now all we have to do is wait for the specialist from HMRC to report on the value of the artwork. Which is, of course, the big issue that confronts us. Meanwhile, despite very little effort, sales and interest in Dave Pearson's work continues....

British Painting 1974

2011-04-19T08:32:00.000+01:00

At the weekend I came across a catalogue I noticed when we were moving Dave Pearson's books and papers in readiness for the refurbishment of his studio; then I lost track of it.

It's a catalogue for an Arts Council exhibition, held at the Heywood Gallery in London - British Painting '74. Curated by the painter and critic Andrew Forge, it set out to be a 'cross-section through the anthill of painting in this country'. 24 painters admired by Forge had been asked to each nominate 10 painters they felt should be included in a survey. Somehow Dave Pearson was included, on whose recommendation I don't know. Although this may seem an odd way to select a major exhibition, it's telling that today I still recognise three-quarters of the names 37 years on. A good average, I would have thought.

Dave (David in the catalogue) was represented by his two Asylum reliefs (Asylum 1 shown above; Asylum 2 below). These are both large and heavy pieces, and inspired by Van Gogh's stay in the asylum at Saint Remy. In Asylum 2 you can see the yellow and blue hats that Dave used over and over as a motif. I wonder if anyone remembers seeing these at the Heywood?

Focusing on the film

2011-04-15T11:57:00.003+01:00

On second viewing I'm still deeply impressed by Derek Smith's film - even in its current very rough cut. Margaret Mytton has been photographing and photoshopping photographs of Dave's work to improve the rostra shots that make up part of the movie; and she's also been looking for additional visual material from our archive of Dave's work.

Above, Interior with Chair, is one of the paintings that has been revealed this way, as is Artists Studio, below.

So far Margaret has spent four days photoshopping images for the film, and I imagine that there's still plenty more for her to do. She tells me that as Admissions Tutor for the Foundation Department at MMU she's having to do this at the same time as dealing with the wave of applications from students. The film clearly still requires a lot of work, and I'm aware that Loz Kaye's specially composed music has still to be added. But it's already obvious that it's going to be a very special piece of work, and a fitting tribute to Dave Pearson.

On the Road..

2011-04-14T08:40:00.001+01:00

...to Tarascon. The above photograph (from 1967) shows Dave Pearson taking his version of the journey made by Vincent. This from a time when Dave's work was all about exploring his obsession with Van Gogh.

Yesterday I had my first viewing of the draft assembly version of Derek Smith's film about Dave. It arrived by post the evening before, but I arrived home late and left viewing it until the morning. Even then it was touch and go and I had a train to catch - but I couldn't wait any longer and so stuck it in the Mac.

There are still holes in it and the end is entirely unfinished. The inserted rostra shots of images are rough and often bleached out and, of course, there are no titles or proper soundtrack yet - either the music or a proper commentary. Despite this I was deeply moved by the film. Derek has found a way of telling the story of Dave's life that focuses on his painting and other artwork; that is informative and yet gives a real insight into a driven, contradictory, wildly talented individual. I'm absolutely confident that the finished film will do justice to its subject.

Our hope is that the film will be finished over the summer months and will be previewed and then released in September. Watch this space for further updates....

April arrives

2011-04-02T16:23:00.001+01:00

The prints of the horses have been delivered to the schools; last week we made further sales to several buyers; end of financial year transactions have been tidied up; and Edward Lucie-Smith replied to Derek Smith, our film maker. So slow progress is being made by the Trust on all fronts....

Red and Blue Horses...

2011-03-19T19:07:00.004Z

The Red Horse is the left hand panel of two that make up a single painting. I mentioned it in the blog on 13th February, and you can see how it looks with both panels together in that entry. But both panels are worth looking at in more detail, and I've enhanced them here (click on them to get a bigger image) - they're large, each nearly 2.5 metres high and over 2 metres wide. Its right hand companion, The Blue Horse is below:

Dave loved Virgil’s story of the Trojan Horse from the Aeneid, and this may be part of the derivation of the imagery of the Red and Blue Horses. The painting was part of a big series called Sailing to Byzantium, inspired by the poem of the same name by WB Yeats, and included the ways in which Dave imagined preparations might be made for a very long sea journey. Some of the paintings showed boats being constructed with many people labouring with various tools, and others show the boats being made ready to set sail - and then, in others, starting to set forth. You can see references to the boats and the journey underneath the horses. The Red and Blue Horses, as part of this series, might also simply be part of the huge team effort to construct the boats.

Together these make a masterly painting, I think one of Dave Pearson's very best, and it's this painting that two head-teachers of local schools, St James C of E Primary of Haslingden and St Nicholas C of E Primary of Newchurch, both in Rossendale, have wisely chosen as a source and starting point for a project by each of their classes. The project can go in any direction; it may start as an art project may may end up as history, geography, science or fashion project. I'm really looking forward to seeing the results of an ambitious and inspiring project that starts next month.

Sifting through...

2011-03-12T15:58:00.000Z

Over the past two Mondays Julian Williams of the See Gallery has been at 54 with a collector friend going through the many unsorted files, folders and cases of works on paper that neither Margaret Mytton or I have had time to check through. In the course of doing this he has put some work aside, either because Dave, our collector friend, was interested in buying them, or because he considered that we might be particularly interested in them for a variety of reasons.

Above Julian is looking at some work from Dave's student days including a self-portrait drawing and a drawing from the Astronaut series (from, probably, the late 1950s).

Margaret and Chris... and the giant canvases

2011-03-02T08:50:00.000Z

These arrived in today's inbox. Evidence of Sunday's mammoth photo-shoot all done within the confines of a terraced house. The tags are put on the edge of each painting once it has been recorded for ease of future referencing.

Working on a narration for the film

2011-02-28T17:58:00.002Z

I've been away but things have continued to develop. Margaret Mytton has been busy helping Derek Smith find solutions for a number of issues surrounding the film that the Trust has commissioned. One thing has been to work on the script - getting things factually correct, for example. An associated issue is finding an independent and critical voice to comment on Dave's work and even his place in 20th century British painting.

We've plenty of informed comment from friends and colleagues, but it will give the film more weight and a sense of perspective if we can find a knowledgeable and independent voice. Of course this is very difficult - because Dave was almost unknown it's inevitable that we will need to introduce his work to any critic, probably for the first time. This itself leads to additional problems - although Dave left an enormous amount of work his really major pieces are large and can't be seen properly, certainly not within the tight confines of the restored studio. In particular the Byzantium series, the work that Dave considered his major achievement, is currently impossible to study.

In order to find a solution to this Margaret is looking at the possibility of showing a selection of these pieces, perhaps at Easter, in a gallery large enough to hang them properly - possibly the Holden Gallery at Manchester Metropolitan University where they were originally show in the 1990s. To help this process on Margaret spent Sunday with Chris Pearson recording the paintings he has in store in his house in Haslingden.

Estate Duty, continued

2011-02-16T10:30:00.000Z

Yesterday I went to our solicitor with Chris Pearson to review the current position with regard to the Estate Duty and the current tax situation of the Dave Pearson Trust.

Our solicitor repeated that we're in a very unusual situation. We took professional advice and that was that Dave's work was almost valueless 'at the time of death', which is the way that an Estate is valued in law - 'at the time of death'. Because Dave had sold no work during the last years of his life there was no sales history for a valuer to go on. Chris repeated that normally he would have kept as many painting as he could in order to remember his father; given some to family and friends, and the rest would have gone with the studio in some version of a house-clearance, i.e. been destroyed. In that context the valuation Chris gave, with the advice of a professional probate valuer and his solicitor (£5,000), was probably accurate.

But that didn't happen. Instead Chris gave the work into a Trust which is managed by me (Bob Frith), Margaret Mytton, and Chris himself. Anyone who has followed this blog will know the efforts we've gone to in order to enhance Dave Pearson's reputation. In the course of doing this, inevitably, the value of the work has increased and the work now clearly enjoys a much higher value. The story has been taken up my the press, and they have quoted a value in 'millions'. It's this that the HMRC have got hold of and so asked to look again at the Estate.

So we agreed that our solicitor will reply to HMRC, repeating the facts of the case, and the reasons why the estate was valued the way it was 'at the time of death'. It could be that HMRC will send in a specialist; whatever they do it will probably take some months. The wheels of the taxman turn slowly.

Albion's grimy windows

2011-02-13T09:29:00.000Z

There's nothing back yet from our solicitors with regards to my response about the Estate Duty paid on Dave Pearson's artwork. But no real surprise there.

Meanwhile I've been working on a poster for the two local schools who have asked to use Dave's large painting of 'Red and Blue Horses' as a starting point for each class to work on an open-ended project. This idea is inspired by the National Gallery's 'Take One Painting' scheme. Above is a photograph of the painting, which is nearly 2 and a half metres high and over 4 metres wide. However the first proof of the poster isn't to my liking and I need to use Photoshop to improve both the quality of the original photograph, and enhance the colour matching.

The schools have asked for an A1 size poster, which means a fairly large increase to the size of the original photograph. Margaret Mytton took the original as we moved Dave's large paintings out of storage and had to rely on daylight streaming through what she described as 'Albion's grimy windows' - referring to the name of the mill in which they were stored rather than a Blakean reference to the state of the nation.

What was in the letter!

2011-02-03T20:02:00.000Z

The letter from our solicitor explained that HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) have finally replied to their letter (replying to the query about the value of Dave's estate - given that no professional valuer would put a value on it at his death beyond saying it was 'nominal', or 'valueless'; and then a year or so later various tabloid reports were claiming among other nonsense that it was worth 'millions') sent in October. I have been copied in, as has Chris Pearson, Dave’s son and the third member of the Trust after Margaret Mytton and myself.

The messages in the letters are mixed – nobody is suggesting that anything has been done wrongly or misleadingly, but that’s almost where the good news ends. HMRC seem to have gone over the whole of the probate claim that Chris made and have even questioned the value of the two houses Dave owned (his house, and the studio).

The questions about the paintings, the artwork, are far more complex, and don’t seem to mention or place any value on the fact that we did try very hard to get professional valuations. HMRC want a ‘specialist unit’ to value the work, and I’ve been asked if I have a detailed catalogue of all the work that is unsold! The solicitor assumes this is going to be difficult. Dead right there! Elsewhere though it again mentions that the important value is ‘’at the time of death’ so everything remains ambivalent because the current value is, naturally, considerably more – after all the work the Trust has been doing (i.e. read this blog). So why value now when it isn’t the relevant figure?

Chris and I are seeking a meeting with our solicitors as soon as possible. This will be primarily about the Estate so we’re going as Executors. Chris is desperate to get this sorted as quickly as possible so we shouldn’t hold anything up at our end. However I think it’s in the nature of HMRC to move at tortoise-like speed, so I can picture it dragging on for ages.

I still feel optimistic in the long run, but dread a long drawn-out period of suspense about all of these issues.

What is in the letter?

2011-02-02T08:30:00.005Z

This morning I received an email from the Trust's solicitor

"In respect of the estate of the late David Pearson, I have at last recently received a response from HMRC in reply to the letter I sent on the 29th October 2010. In my letter to you I have enclosed a copy of their reply together with a copy of a letter I have received today from the Valuation Office Agency along with my comments."

So - at last - a response to the issue of Estate Duty. In particular the fact that on Dave Pearson's death it was impossible for any 'expert' to give us a valuation beyond that it was 'without value'; yet within a year the tabloid press was claiming it was worth 'millions'. Hmmm - can't wait to read those letters.

More visitors

2011-01-31T08:53:00.000Z

The weekend involved yet more visitors to the studio in Haslingden. Five school colleagues, friends of the See Gallery's Jackie, spent Sunday afternoon viewing the work and enjoying the atmosphere of the place. I sometimes find myself taking it for granted, so it's always good to be jolted back to the realisation of how unique the place is - housing the majority of Dave Pearson's artwork, which is extraordinary both in terms of its quality and quantity.

These photographs show how different the studio is now from the place that I 'inherited' after Dave's death. Although it simply holds too much work to function effectively as a gallery, it at least offers a clean and fresh environment to store the work; and in some areas such as the upper corridor (top photograph) and the entrance room (immediately below) it provides something approaching a gallery display.

More, it contains half a century of an artist's work, so it's unique as a place to explore his life and development as an artist. Most of the work remains unsorted, let alone catalogued, so a visit also retains the sense of being an exploration and an adventure as you pick your way through seven rooms full of paintings large and small, prints, drawings, notebooks - all the paraphernalia of an artists life.

The stag on the ceiling

2011-01-23T09:42:00.000Z

It has been an eventful week; on Thursday I took two head teachers from local junior schools around Dave Pearson's studio. One of the heads had participated, at her previous school, in a scheme organised by the National Gallery called 'Take One Painting'. A painting from their collection was used as a source for exploration by the school-children. This could simply turn out to be a week of art lessons, or it could be a term of study researching something that developed out of looking at and studying the artwork in depth - perhaps a history project; research on costumes; or looking at customs from another time or from another culture. Anything that the children might wish to discover from the painting and follow in their own way, guided by the teachers.

This had been so successful a project that she wished to follow it with something similar in her new school - which happens to be in Haslingden. Dave Pearson's work had been mentioned, and so the visit was arranged in order to look at his work in the context of the studio, and discuss how we might choose a piece of his work and work together on such a project. The heads were very excited - it's early days yet, but I know this is the kind of thing that Dave would have loved and applauded.

Then yesterday I met up with a collector I've got to know through his enthusiasm for Dave's work. Over the past couple of years he has bought a good number of pieces from the Trust - always well chosen and considered. Having visited his house I know that wall-space is now at a premium, so he had the idea of mounting a largish piece on the ceiling of his bedroom. Unconventional, and something I couldn't quite imagine - so I was presented with a pen-drive full of photographs of the piece in situ. He has even developed his own hanging system with specially designed slotted plates, and screw fittings with washer heads to hold the painting securely in place. Our collector friend is delighted at the result, and is now considering adapting another ceiling - and an even larger painting!

Finally, I also met with Julian and Jackie at the See Gallery to sort out the finances of the recent exhibition. Along with the proceeds from other recent sales, I'll now be able to pay another cheque into the Trust account. The Trust feel that we can use some of this income to help further the work in local schools.

Quantity - and quality

2011-01-15T09:43:00.000Z

This week I finished cataloguing all of the pieces that were in the December exhibition at the See Gallery, plus a handful more that have been sold recently. It takes the catalogue number to above 1000, although I think the numbering started at 100 or thereabouts (must check this). Still, it's a not inconsiderable achievement, although the thought lingers that it hardly seems to have made a dent on the truly vast amount of work that Dave left on his death and that still needs to be entered into the catalogue of his work. My guess is that there is at least 20 times the amount of work still to be catalogued - so a total of around 20,000 pieces.

I also heard from a head-teacher I know that a Haslingden school, hence one local to Dave's studio, want to visit his studio to look at the work with a view to using a piece of his work as their choice for the National Gallery's 'Take One Picture' scheme in which primary schools through the UK are invited to 'respond creatively' to a painting. The guidelines I've found seem to suggest that this should be a painting from the National's own collection, but perhaps this is another, or an associated, scheme. Either way it's a wonderful idea and a tribute to the imagination of the school, St. James, that they have looked at the idea of choosing a painter who lived and worked in their own community. A tribute, too, to the power and ability of Dave Pearson's work to communicate itself to a wide audience.

2011

2011-01-09T09:39:00.003Z

So after a break from working on Trust business over Christmas and New Year I'm back picking up the reins. One thing is to get the pieces that were on show at the See gallery (a selection of work from Dave's old studio at Globe Arts) into the DPT Catalogue. I had planned to do this months ago but a mix up with Margaret about photographing these works has slowed things down so I'm getting close to forgetting which pieces were in the show and having to rely on my notes. Not something I would advise; we realise we must systemise our photographic recording of exhibitions in the future. I also need to meet with Jackie and Julian of the gallery (I hope to do this later today) and sort out the sales and expenditure on the show.

Slowly my mind turns back to the on-going issue of the Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and their query about the value of the work on Dave's death. This really has to be cleared up soon - it's a weight hanging over both the Trust and Chris Pearson.

Addendum: By the evening I managed to track down and photograph all the paintings from the See exhibition. Julian and Jackie paid a visit too, bringing along two friends who explored the collection in a mood of awe and wonder and then finally bought 6 pieces of work. So it turned out to be 5 hours spent at the studio and, as ever, the revelation of new and unseen (to me) pieces of work; new delights...

A first glimpse

2010-12-18T11:59:00.001Z

A photograph entitled 'Dave Wales c. 1960', given to Margaret Mytton by Dave's old friend John Waughman.

I looked again at these photographs after Derek sent us a short sequence from the film - a first glimpse of what he has been doing. It consisted of a couple of minutes of John revisiting the old terraced house in Glyn Road, Hackney - what estate agents call 'a quiet residential tree-lined street' - where Dave lived as a school boy and during his early student years. The sequence was lovely, very atmospheric, and John and Derek were able to look inside and see the places where, over 50 years ago, Dave drew his mother and father going about their chores and work.

The soundtrack has yet to be put down, and so what we saw was a rough cut but it bodes very, very well for the finished film. My colleague Loz Kaye is writing special music for the film and I imagine that it will soon be ready for his input. Very exciting!

The last weekend of filming

2010-12-13T08:47:00.000Z

It has been a full-on weekend; Derek Smith capturing the missing pieces of film he needs, plus what he calls the "master interviews", namely interviews with Margaret Mytton and myself. So on Saturday I was filmed moving work around the studio in Haslingden, and reliving the period of time around Dave's death when I filmed the decaying mess of a building that it was at that time, before it had its makeover. In the afternoon I drove Derek around Haslingden; figure-of-eight circuits that enabled him to film from my car. Then, in the evening, I was interviewed at the Boo, talking about a wide range of topics relating to Dave, but feeling very tired and with my voice slowly breaking up...

In between times Derek set up various 'missing' shots - a Rossendale Free Press billboard about the discovery of Dave's paintings at Globe Arts; exterior shots of the buildings; and close-ups of some of Dave's etchings and notebooks. Then on Sunday morning it was the turn of Margaret Mytton, who went with Derek to Bolton Abbey, where they walked to the Valley of Desolation, one of Dave's favourite places. At that spot, Margaret did her interview. Sunday afternoon we held a meeting of the Trust at 54 Manchester Road, discussing finances; the on-going problem with the HMRC/Inland Revenue about the valuation of Dave's Estate; our relationship with the See Gallery (very positive), and how we recompense the many people who help us out from time-to-time.

So Derek returns to London today, and with the exception of one or two interviews left to film, the filming has been completed. We hope to have the finished film by Easter.

Snowbound update

2010-12-05T11:00:00.001Z

Well thank you for the comments and support relating to the last two posts. One faithful follower of this blog prints it off and sends the DP Trust a regular laminated hard copy, and has even provided me with a folder to keep the pages in! Thank you so much, David - it's very much appreciated. Tellingly we're about to go into a second volume.

As I mentioned in the previous blog, filming was undertaken at MMU and Derek emailed me that it was both interesting and useful footage. I didn't ask him what final accommodation had been made with the university authorities - I'll find out soon enough when he makes his last filming expedition to Rossendale to record myself and Margaret Mytton.

That trip up from London was cancelled this weekend due to the weather - moving around is a treacherous business right now; Margaret in particular has to cross the Pennines to get over to us and she reported that she spent five and a half hours just traveling to MMU and back during the week. Fingers crossed for next weekend.

Another chapter.

2010-11-28T18:07:00.000Z

Derek Smith tells me that the filming at MMU went well, and that next weekend he wants to interview Margaret Mytton and myself and after that the filming for the documentary on Dave Pearson will be complete. Today was the final day of the exhibition at the See gallery, and next week I'll take the unsold pieces back to the studio at 54. So almost the end of another chapter. It would be nice if the Inland Revenue would resolve their issue with death duties - then we could start 2011 knowing where the Trust stands.

This year we're better prepared for the cold weather - the water at the studio has been turned off, and the background heaters are on. Important to avoid another burst, especially as the cellar (that was partly flooded last winter) now houses more work as a result of moving the pieces out of Globe Arts Studios.

Hard times at MMU

2010-11-22T18:46:00.002Z

Derek Smith has almost completed the filming for the documentary on Dave Pearson's work. The Trust hope that this film will help us to promote Dave's work more widely and support our aim to enhance the reputation of a unique and special man and artist. Derek has yet to interview Margaret Mytton and myself, but the rest of the filming is just about in place.

One final piece of footage Derek wanted to include in the film is a short section inside Manchester Metropolitan University, where Dave taught for 38 years throughout it's various guises as Manchester School of Art and Design, Manchester Polytechnic, and now MMU. However permission to undertake this has turned into a long, legalistic process. First a facility fee had to be negotiated in order to gain access to the premises (£175 was finally agreed on); then various other permissions were required. After a lot of negotiation by Derek, and with help from Margaret, herself a Senior Lecturer at MMU, things finally seemed to be resolved.

But when a final contract was issued to Derek it included a clause 'In addition the Licensee will pay to the Licensor 5% of the profits, only in the event the profits exceed £20,000'. Despite the fact that we would be very, very surprised if the film made a profit of any kind, let alone in excess of £20K, this does seem a rather mercenary position for the University to take, especially when we're talking of a matter of a few minutes of footage in a 60 minute film created for a not-for-profit organisation. Derek says 'I must confess to never having seen this in all the years I have been producing films professionally since 1979'.

Margaret Mytton has written to the Conference and Events Co-ordinator at MMU pleading for a sensible and balanced response to the Trusts concerns. Among other things, she points out:

"As someone who worked closely alongside Dave Pearson for many years, I appreciate the tremendous commitment he had to the students, the courses he taught on, and to MMU as an institution. This was demonstrated not just by the high quality of his teaching which was legendary, but by the many, many evenings on which, other than students, we would be the only persons in Grosvenor. It seems appropriate that this commitment and 38 years of his life is represented visually in a film about his life and work, without penalty."

She goes on to say....

"I welcome the opportunity for MMU to share in any reflected glory that may ensue as we continue to raise Dave's profile. As we are wishing to portray MMU in the best possible light, this is free advertising for the Manchester School of Art. In fact because of the fee Derek has agreed to pay, MMU are already actually being paid to get free advertising!"

Dave Pearson and the Northern Renaissance

2010-11-07T11:30:00.003Z

As part of his research for the film on Dave Pearson that the Trust has commissioned, film-maker Derek Smith has been researching Dave's past. Derek came across a Guardian review of an exhibition in 1972 of Dave's work inspired by Van Gogh. Written by the critic Merete Bates, the review says "...unlike so many artists' interpretations after a master, it is not easily forgotten." She finishes by wondering "It will be interesting to see what will grow after Van Gogh. Dave Pearson has great capacity to explore his subject thoroughly."

Derek tracked down Merete, who apparently now paints in Dorset. In a reply to Derek she writes a memory of the period in the 1970s when she worked as a national critic based in the North-West, and refers to the last line of her review:

"It is impressive to go through his work on the web-site and see how he did develop. "The Jarrow March" for example is only too relevant just now. I imagine he was a superb teacher?

"It was an amazing time to work first at Granada and then on the Guardian, especially with a completely free rein that I had then.

"I can remember reviewing/interviewing many artists who may have been helped..(but they were good anyway)...by national exposure.....John Virtue, John Loker, Tony Cragg, Adrian Henri... Then Norman Adams, Peter Prendergast, Jim Billsborough, Kate Barnard nee Westbrook all of whom became great friends, to name a few. These were sometimes alongside artists already well-known - John Hoyland, Alan Davie, Winifred Nicholson, Tony Caro. I would often be covering 3 - 4 exhibitions a week, some with interviews, all well worth seeing. The great advantage of the North, as I have since discovered, is the provision of great galleries even in the smaller towns. Of course there's the Bluecoat....but also the Haworth, the Tib Lane (until recently), the Park Square and the big city galleries such as Leeds, Manchester, the Graves in Sheffield. There is designated space to show painting...

"Of course theatre really exploded then too, sometimes in alliance with television, sometimes independently. At Granada there was World in Action with John Shepherd and Les Woodhead, et al. there were stunning writers like Jim Allen, Jack Rosenthal, Alan Sillitoe... there was the Stables with Trevor Griffiths and others..I myself made documentaries (or at least researched, filmed and wrote them) on the Durham mines, and the early Labour movement and also wrote a play for Ken Trodd. Then there were the new theatres, the Everyman, the Bolton Octagon, Sheffield Crucible, Leeds Playhouse, the Victoria at Stoke with Peter Cheeseman, the Manchester Exchange... Not to mention the Art Colleges - Albert Hunt at Bradford and Willy Tirr at Leeds, Jeff Nuttall.....I can't believe, thinking back, how so much could flourish out of nothing in such a short time and it was by no means prosperous, whatever they say - more like emergence from the duress that followed the second world war."

This paints a picture of a kind of Northern Renaissance, a time in retrospect seen as a Golden Age, that I remember quite clearly, although I hadn't seen it in those terms before. To me it's perceptive and very interesting, and it shines yet another light on Dave and his development.

Selling - and the Buy Art Fair

2010-11-01T20:44:00.000Z

Since the opening of Dave's show at the See Gallery we've sold a number of paintings from visitors to the gallery who were directed on to the studio in Haslingden. Haslingden is about 5 miles from Crawshawbooth, so it's not a long haul to travel on to visit the studio. The Trust are considering formalising this arrangement, so that Julian and Jackie (at the gallery) have a key to the studio and can show and sell work from there as well as from their gallery.

This has the benefit that Margaret and I, who are often not available because of our other commitments, can rely on there being access to all the work for potential buyers, even when we're busy. For the See gallery it extends their ability to sell, as well enabling them to discuss work with their clients even when they don't have it on show, in the knowledge that they can also market those pieces. It means, however, that we have to have a very well mapped out and developed plan of pricing, pieces that aren't for sale, and work that needs to be set aside for one reason or another.

Yesterday I went to the Buy Art Fair in Manchester, an annual jamboree, this year in Spinningfields, for dealers, galleries, and artists to show and sell their work to the public, who pay a £5.00 entry charge for the privilege. Julian of the See was there, promoting the gallery's work with the Ray Lowry Foundation. Ray died in the same year as Dave Pearson, and also lived (and died) in Rossendale. There, the similarities end, except to say that Ray was a cartoonist and graphic artist of wicked integrity, and with some not insubstantial ability as a painter, mainly of Manchester street scenes.

The experience of the Fair left me dispirited. I couldn't see it as a place to show Dave's work. Too much of a market for second-rate interior furnishings masquerading as art.

More photographs from Globe Art Studios

2010-10-28T08:32:00.001+01:00

A few more photographs (courtesy of Margaret Mytton) of the studio at Globe Arts, before it was broken up and therefore just as it was left by Dave Pearson. Eventually he was unable to use it any more due to the progress of his illness. It really was a special space, almost an installation piece, filled with these red, white and black constructions.

Underneath, once we cleared things away, were hundreds of other paintings, mainly from the 1990s. These have been moved to the studio in Haslingden, while the string and nail pieces have either been given to friends and colleagues, or skipped, with just a score or so put into storage.

A new exhibition in Rossendale

2010-10-23T09:19:00.000+01:00

Last night was the opening of the third exhibition of work by Dave Pearson at the See Gallery in Crawshawbooth. Beautifully hung, and with an emotional coherence that wasn't so apparent in the earlier shows. This because, with the work all coming from the cache found at Dave's Globe Arts studio, the work came from a relatively concentrated period of time - mainly from the 1990s.

Despite this there is nevertheless a wide range of approaches and techniques on display. These include 10 self-portraits (most extremely dark in mood), a large number of oil paintings of different sizes from the Bestiary series, and a few of the very distinctive constructions that Dave made during this period (such as the one on the wall in the photograph above).

The constructions are fascinating. The photographs above and below record how the studio at Globe Arts was left at Dave's death. A stash of wild, almost violent, work created from white-painted boards, nails, red and black wool, and with various attached items, including some found objects collected from the various stays in hospital he was experiencing at this time in his life.

These pieces have now been cleared away; some kept by the Dave Pearson Trust; some given to friends including the other artists at Globe Arts; and the rest sadly had to be tipped (most of these were damaged). The example at the See was an early construction, and rather than being inspired by the experience of hospitalisation, was Dave's response to the outbreak of the Gulf War. This and a few other pieces on the same subject seem to have sown the seeds for the later hospital works. An example of the political merging with the (highly) personal.

Selection

2010-10-17T09:54:00.002+01:00

Spent a lot of yesterday at the See gallery looking at the work that Julian and Jackie had selected from the 500 or so pieces of work that we removed from Globe Arts studios a few days ago. With Jackie and Margaret Mytton I helped title, price and place the pieces of work.

Particularly notable are the series of Bestiary paintings, influenced by the strange and mythic creatures found in medieval bestiaries, and also the series of dark, mask-like self-portraits that Dave painted during this period in the 1990s.

The exhibition, which opens next weekend (private view Friday 22nd) has a special intensity and integrity probably because, unlike earlier exhibitions at the See, the work in it covers only a decade or so of Dave's output. There is nevertheless a wide range of work - from harrowing wood, nail and string constructions, through the series of small (almost miniature) oil paintings, to the comic and strange 'Christmas Fair' creations made for the Globe Christmas exhibitions.

See Gallery

2010-10-16T08:31:00.000+01:00

See Gallery, Oddfellows Hall, Binns St, Crawshawbooth, Rossendale, Lancashire BB4 8AA

The move out of Globe

2010-10-09T10:15:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we finally moved everything out of Dave Pearson's old studio space at Globe Arts. His studio had sat there, untouched, since his death - in fact it is probably three years since Dave had been there himself. It is one of the larger spaces at the studios, and inevitably the time had come when other artists needed to move in and take over the area, which sits at the top floor of a Victorian cotton-mill complex and is reached via an antiquated (clapped out) Victorian lift .

There were 8 of us - Ruth and John from Globe Arts, Margaret and her friend Paul, Dave Chadwick and myself, Chris Pearson plus Julian from the See gallery. Then there was Derek Smith, who spent the day filming the proceedings. Organisation was slightly chaotic, but things got done. By things I mean - photographing every artwork as it left the building (Margaret and Paul); filling two skips with rubbish and any damaged work; carefully removing 600 paintings (Ruth, John, Julian, Chris), and loading and driving these to the old studio in Haslingden, then unloading them and finding storage in the, ever-shrinking, available space (Dave and I). We worked from 9.30 in the morning; by 6.30pm everything had been done, leaving just a little tidying needed round the edges.

People approached the work in different ways; Margaret was, as usual, methodical as she needed to be in order to record the work, her attention alighting on pieces she specially wanted keeping. It was hard not to be affected by having to tip old paint brushes, coffee mugs and other personal items into a skip. Not to mention the pieces of work that were either damaged or simply unable to be stored in the space we have. There is a tension between wanting to keep every last item that Dave produced, and the need to retain the refurbished studio in Haslingden as a reasonable place to view his work and to some extent that tension is reflected in Margaret and my own slightly differing sense of priorities. But in the event a sensible compromise has been reached, and there's a corresponding relief that (almost) all of Dave's work is now gathered safely in one place.

The Jarrow March triptych now has a home

2010-10-06T12:23:00.001+01:00

The 'Jarrow March' a triptych painted by Dave Pearson in 1986 has spent most of the last 20 years in storage. It has now found a home at the office of Horse + Bamboo Theatre company in Waterfoot, Rossendale, where it is on loan from the Dave Pearson Trust. The painting, considered to be one of Dave's most important large oil paintings, is 5.50 metres wide by 2.80 metres high. It will remain at the office for the foreseeable future but may well become a centre piece for a forthcoming exhibition at the Peoples' History Museum in Manchester.

Things are progressing with the move of work from Globe Arts studios this coming Friday to the See gallery and Dave Pearson's studio in Haslingden. Vans and skips have been organised; a team of helpers assembled; and Derek Smith is travelling up from London to record the move for the documentary he is making on Dave's life and work.

A date is agreed

2010-09-25T09:08:00.000+01:00

The 8th October has been chosen as the day to move the work from Globe Artists Studios in Stacksteads; to move the work and tidy the space that had been Dave's studio when he worked at Globe. We've assembled a group of 6 or more helpers so feel confident that we'll manage the job comfortably within the day. Thank you to everybody involved.

Margaret has plans to record each piece of work as it leaves the studio - a production line photographic session. I'm particularly concerned with what happens at the other end, in Dave's old Haslingden studio. Room has to be made here to receive the incoming work and although the scale is nothing like the major move of work that we undertook in the Spring, there's still a significant amount of work to make space for. The unknown is how much, if any, can go directly to the See gallery in readiness for an exhibition at the end of October. Note: I must ring Julian today and fix a date for this.

Another move

2010-09-20T16:52:00.001+01:00

At last there's a plan to move Dave's things from Globe Arts Studio, where they've been since his death over 2 years ago. Dave was an important member of the studio group, although he was unable to visit or work there for the last few years of his life. Nevertheless there's a sizeable collection of his work there - especially from the Bestiary series, as well as a variety of work done for Globe exhibitions.

Most notable of all are the huge string, nail, and wool pieces that Dave created as a response to his hospitalisation and early operations. These are raw, angry pieces that suggest wounds and cuts, and often integrate surgical material within the collages. We'll keep some of these but many - probably the vast majority - are beyond rescue and we'll probably have to destroy them.

Once this has been done nearly all of Dave's work will be either at our studio collection in Haslingden, or in Chris Pearson's nearby house. Making room for it is another headache, but there's a plan to show highlights of the Globe work at the See gallery next month.

Visitors and interviewees

2010-09-11T10:11:00.000+01:00

We've had a second week of Derek Smith visiting us (the first was in July). Derek is in the process of making a film about Dave Pearson and his work, and continued this week with filmed interviews of Dave's friends and colleagues plus some background filming of Rossendale and, in particular of Haslingden, Dave's adopted home.

Among the interviewees were Melvyn Chantrey and John Hyatt (another resident of Haslingden); and there was a visit to the studio from David Maclagan, the artist, art therapist, author and lecturer. These meetings have all been facilitated by Margaret Mytton, my co-Trustee at the Dave Pearson Trust.

Derek tells me that, since his summertime visit, he has also been able to interview Vince Rea, the founder of the Bede Gallery in Jarrow. Vince is now retired but had many memories of the time when Dave was a regular exhibitor at the Bede.

Article in 'Lancashire Life'.

2010-09-05T17:48:00.001+01:00

For anyone interested there's a new piece on Dave Pearson and the work of the Trust in the September edition of 'Lancashire Life'. It's also available online:

http://lancashire.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/art-treasures-in-haslingden-house-23957/

The tax situation (in some detail).

2010-08-21T16:43:00.005+01:00

Since the main reason to write this blog was in order to help anyone who finds themselves in the position that I was placed in, namely an Executor of the Estate of an artist, it's worth me writing at some length about the current situation with regard to Estate Duty. I went back to the early entries of the blog and realised that I never really discussed this in much detail. But now, 18 months on, HM Revenue and Customs are asking us for clarification it's worth saying something about the background and circumstances that has produced this situation.

a) Dave Pearson asked me to be joint Executor to his will, with a particular role in looking after his artwork, and in that role I supported his son Christopher in negotiating the probate arrangements around the valuation of the artwork left by his father. In Dave's case this was difficult as he simply didn't sell much work during his lifetime, and had not sold anything for several years before his death. Probate, by the way, is a document that enables a person, usually an executor, to deal with someone's estate, between their death and the acceptance in law of the settlement.

I researched and explained the inheritance tax situation as I understood it to Chris, and I made a real effort to seek expert valuation of the artwork. You will appreciate that this was difficult as the artwork in the studio had not been touched for many years and the building itself was in a very poor state of repair, plus the artwork was distributed throughout the building in a chaotic way.

b) Dave's Estate included a studio, various 'chattels' (furniture and such like) and some money in the bank, as well as his artwork. The first things were relatively easy to value, and the total value of these came under the threshold for Dave's estate to need to pay Estate Duty.

Chris and I realised the importance of getting the work valued and spent several days on the internet and telephone trying to get expert opinion. Walton and Walton, auctioneers and valuers, of Burnley finally agreed to meet with me and asked me to bring a selection of Dave Pearson's artwork to their salesroom. Their website describes them as offering services for 'Professional Valuations for Probate'. I asked Chris Pearson to come along to this meeting and we had a consultation lasting about half an hour with their expert. He explained the difficulty of valuing the work; and given that there had been no history of sales of Dave Pearson's work for the past 5 years or more we were told that there was no basis to value the work beyond a nominal value. I asked for a written valuation but they declined to provide this, saying again that there was no basis or history on which to base a valuation and repeated their advice to put a nominal value on the artwork, which they felt was a true reflection of the value at the time of Dave Pearson's death.

To be certain about the issue I continued to research this, and spoke with several other valuers over the telephone. None would even meet with me, and the repeated message was that as there was no history of sales of the work for a period of many years, and that as Dave Pearson was not a 'well-known', or even a 'known' artist, any valuation could only be nominal.

c) I passed this information on to Chris Pearson and he met with his own solicitor, and at that point they made a valuation of the artwork portion of the estate in line with the advice that it only had a nominal value. This then became part of the valuation of the Estate.

d) At that point we set up the Trust and, of course, this blog explains and explores how this was done. Then a few months ago the tabloid press got hold of a story that had started with a local news report - it was along the lines of the artwork being worth a lot of money ('millions' were quoted) and played heavily on the idea that Dave Pearson had been a reclusive eccentric; in other words a modern version of the 'miser's gold' story. Of course all this was very, very far from the truth, but then the press isn't very interested at getting at the truth, and clearly they felt it made a good story as it appeared in several national newspapers.

e) So the current situation with regard to HM Revenue is that they are seeking an explanation as to the gap between a probate valuation, given late in 2008, of Dave Pearson's artwork that is 'nominal' (i.e. probably between £3,000 and £5,000) and press reports in 2010 of the work being worth 'millions'.

f) The key thing about probate valuation of an estate is that it's the value at the point of death. A subsequent change in value is irrelevant with regard to assessing probate. As anyone following this blog will know the whole point of setting up the Dave Pearson Trust and the work we've undertaken over the past 18 months has been to increase awareness of Dave's legacy and, as a natural development of this, his works have increased in value. All sales of work since probate have been properly recorded, and in a period of 21 months the Trust has sold just under £50,000 worth of his work. We are completely transparent about this - in fact it's a direct by-product of our aims and objectives. We met with our solicitor last month to discuss the tax implications of these sales, and that is currently in hand.

g) Dave Pearson's case is probably unusual although I'm certain that it won't be unique. Clearly anyone undertaking this kind of work has to be very careful to avoid the charge that they had purposely under-valued the work of an artist in order to avoid death duties. In the case of an artist who sells their work on a regular basis this would be relatively easy to prove one way or another. For an artist who hardly sold their work at all it can easily lead to the situation we're currently having to deal with.

The taxman cometh

2010-08-19T20:25:00.000+01:00

On return from holiday (hence the gap in these blog entries) I found a letter waiting for me from Woodcocks, our solicitor, and assumed it to be about the meeting we had last month to review the Trusts tax position. In fact events have overtaken us as Chris Pearson has been asked by HM Revenue and Customs to explain the gap between the nominal value inserted in the probate papers against the value reported in the media of Dave's estate. Go back a few months and we had frankly ridiculous and inflated reports in the press about the value of the work.

In the letter details were asked for about any meetings we had with probate valuers regards to valuation of the work that was left on Dave's death, and so on. This will mean going over things that happened two years ago; it's precisely the situation I wanted to avoid by talking with our solicitor last month.

Anyway, I'm certain that we have done all the right things, and correctly. One bonus is that we have this blog - documenting the process and the work we've put in to develop Dave's reputation!

But anyway, for now there's another weeks holiday to have and then buckle down to sorting this out and, hopefully, satisfying the tax authorities.

Taxation!

2010-07-24T16:03:00.000+01:00

After our recent meeting I had made an appointment to visit the solicitor who helped us set up the Trust in the first place - Stephen Parr of Woodcocks, Haslingden. We like his clear and straightforward manner.

The tax position needed clarifying for us. When the Trust was first established there was such a lot of information to take in that, although Stephen outlined the tax situation to us, it seemed a very distant concern at that time. Now, after the Dave Pearson Trust has been selling his work for 18 months, it needed to be looked at in detail and we had to make certain that we were operating correctly.

Stephen outlined the need to register with the Inland Revenue and the situation with regard to Inheritance Tax, VAT, Income and Capital Gains Taxes. Margaret and I came out of the meeting pleased that we hadn't left it any later to consult him. We're now waiting for the notes of the meeting to be sent to us by Woodcocks, and then to decide how we'll deal with things as they stand. Fortunately, the situation is easily manageable and the solicitor will be able to deal with any declarations on our behalf.

Moving along

2010-07-14T08:01:00.000+01:00

The Trust - Margaret Mytton, Chris Pearson and I - met last week, and reviewed our position. We confirmed that we would commission a film from Derek Smith; we agreed to visit a solicitor to check on our tax situation and a few other legal questions that have arisen; and we also agreed that we would meet with Julian and Jackie of the See gallery to look at ways we could work more closely together.

Since then Derek has lost no time, and is currently back in Rossendale conducting a series of interviews with friends, and others who know Dave's work, as a way of working gently into the business of film-making.

I've continued to sell work, but I'm now extremely aware of the need to keep important pieces back. I've also had a day of cataloguing (i.e. entering pieces into the Artlook catalogue) and we are now approaching having catalogued a thousand pieces. Of course, given Dave's phenomenal productivity, this still only scratches the bottom of the pile. Finally, the catalogue had now been moved onto a Macbook so the whole thing can be easily taken up to the studio for comparisons and in order to make the process of cataloguing generally more efficient.

A film is commissioned

2010-07-03T19:06:00.000+01:00

Two more of the newly discovered slides - a picture of the Potato Eaters (seen in the exhibition shot below), and a close up of their table.

Yesterday we met to discuss the idea of a film about Dave with Derek Smith, and agreed to commission a film by Derek about Dave's work and, to some extent, his life.

Derek has recently completed the film "An Exile in Paradise: The Adventures of Edward Lear in Greece and Albania" which won the Arts Silver World Medal at the 2009 New York Festivals International Television Programming and Promotion Awards, and this film has been shown on Sky Arts. The production company's website says 'Derek Smith has made many documentary series for Independent Television and the BBC. He won the first BP Arts Award for a film about Franz Liszt, a clutch of medals at the New York TV and Film Festival and Royal Television Society Awards for his regional work. He has made portraits of figures as diverse as Lucian Freud, John Tavener and The Dalai Lama.'

Derek came to one of Dave's exhibitions at the See Gallery and then visited the studio. He was immediately excited about the possibilities of a film about Dave and we, in turn, instinctively felt that Derek would be the right person to make such a film. Our hope is that we will have a finished film, of about an hour in length, ready for release for Easter 2011.

Images from the Van Gogh period

2010-06-27T10:57:00.001+01:00

A recently discovered set of slides from the late 1960s/early 1970s shows some of Dave Pearson's work from his Van Gogh period. Nearly all of this work has been lost either through deterioration of the papier-mache, or for lack of storage space. The top photograph above shows 'The Potato Eaters' and part of 'The Blue Reaper' in the foreground, probably at the Bede Gallery in Jarrow. The wall on the right is full of etchings and drypoints from this period and, fortunately, there are examples remaining of most of these.

The central photograph is probably from the Liverpool Academy exhibition in the same year, 1970. The blue 'Vincents Hat' is visible, with 'Sunflowers' on the right and 'The Blue Reaper' again glimpsed through the doorway. At the bottom there's a close up of 'Vincent and the Blue Easel' from one of these shows - the figure of Van Gogh being roughly life-size.

Holding back work...

2010-06-18T17:46:00.000+01:00

After the Reveal Open Studios weekend we were expecting a visit yesterday from BBC Radio 4 Front Row, but that got postponed at short notice. Instead Margaret and I met up at 54 and used the opportunity to review where we are with things.

A lot has been achieved in less than two years, but having rescued the work and the studio many of the the fundamental questions and issues about the Estate remain. In particular how are we going to increase awareness of Dave Pearson's work and get to see it represented more widely in collections? Up to now we have been selling work at what we consider to be low prices in order to raise enough money to sustain our work, but we now have sufficient funds to look after the storage and building for the immediate future as well as commission a film about Dave.

We started by deciding to put more work aside, to 'ring-fence' it from immediate sales. The criteria will be

important pieces in Dave's development;
exceptional pieces that would currently be ludicrously under-priced;
typical examples from his main series of works, especially those in short supply.

So, for example we've decided to hold back the remaining 40 self-portraits on canvas. We will also soon look at the relief paintings and some of the series of works on paper. We've already been through this process with the 'In the 7 Woods' pencil series (see above for an example) and held back perhaps 30% of the drawings. We've done it for the large prints too. Eventually we'll do this for all of the work...

As Trustees of the Estate we have a duty to the mission of the Trust, which is (in short) protecting the work and enhancing Dave Pearson's reputation as an artist. We also have a duty to Chris Pearson who made over the work to the Trust (he remains a Trustee) to manage the sales of the work sensibly, and we recognise that it would be foolish to sell pieces at this stage that may well be significantly more valuable in future. It's all about striking the right balance of course, and we need to get the balance right between getting some income in now and making certain that the legacy is properly protected.

Reveal

2010-06-14T08:01:00.000+01:00

We had over 120 visitors at the weekend; most of them staying about an hour exploring Dave's old studio. So most of the time it was busy and buzzing with chat and enthusiasm. This was a good number as it meant Margaret or I were able to speak individually with just about everyone who came through our door to explain a little about who Dave was; why the studio in Haslingden was there; and what our plans were. Several people had even made the journey from London to Haslingden specially in order to visit us.

I got out for short period and visited two of the other studios in the Valley, but run out of time to see more. I think this was typical of most of the artists involved - so busy with their own studios that they didn't have the time to see what us others were up to. The feedback was that the weekend was a great success, although the See gallery had far fewer visitors than the studios, possibly as a result of people deciding that they would focus on visiting those venues that weren't normally open to the public.

At 54 Manchester Road we also managed to sell 6 pieces of work, and there several people who took my details so they could arrange another visit in order to buy at a later date. There was a really enthusiastic response from almost everyone - a good weekend, and many thanks to Susan, Barbara, Dave, Steve, Kay and Anne who helped us out.

Adopt a large relief!

2010-06-05T15:39:00.004+01:00

I've been grabbing the odd hour or two to go to over to the studio and clear and tidy in readiness for the Open Studio weekend - on the 12th and 13th of June we're opening up Studio 54 between 11.00am and 4.30pm as part of Reveal: Rossendale Open Studios.

There's been a lot of tidying away, and I had also hoped to deal with one of our persistent problems - the Asylum! Dave created two pieces in the early 1970s based on Van Gogh's paintings of the Asylum at St. Remy. They were large and very heavy reliefs, both over 8' x 6' (2.4m x 1.8m). They were exhibited at the Hayward on the South Bank but since then they have both been stored at Dave's Haslingden studio. The largest Asylum piece is thankfully displayed at the Boo - the theatrespace and venue belonging to Horse + Bamboo Theatre - but I had hoped to hang the smaller of the two pieces in the entrance hall of the studio.

Yesterday I gave up. There's only one place it would fit, but an examination (and a test bore-hole) showed that the wall there simply isn't strong enough for it. In the exhibition room it totally dominates everything else, and it's far too big to move elsewhere in the building. So - what to do? Asylum 2 is pictured below...

We may simply have to record it very thoroughly, and then break it up; destroy it. We don't want to do this but there now doesn't seem like any other solution. Unless we find a lovely home for it. Anyone out there interested. If so - please, please get in touch.

Getting sorted for Reveal

2010-05-28T08:04:00.002+01:00

On the weekend of the 12th and 13th of June we're opening up Studio 54 between 11.00am and 4.30pm as part of Reveal: Rossendale Open Studios.

But the place is still chaotic from the move of the big paintings in April, and the two 'gallery' spaces, that should be the areas where we can exhibit some of Dave's work with a measure of order, are still full of paintings left on the floor or in boxes. Both Margaret and myself are very, very busy with work and it's becoming a big problem working out how we'll make things presentable for the open weekend.

Yesterday I grabbed a few hours and made some headway on the top floor - repairing a plan chest, and rationalising some of the shelving. If I can find the equivalent of a day between now and the 12th there's a fighting chance I'll be able to put up a few more racks and make up some shelving for the note-books. If I can do this things will be fine, even if not brilliantly arranged. The single biggest problem is I'll need at least another 2 strong people to rehang Asylum 2 - one of Dave's largest pieces, which otherwise dominates the downstairs exhibition room.

Further interesting developments

2010-05-15T16:48:00.000+01:00

Last week I met with Julian and Jackie from the See gallery to sort out sales from the recent exhibition, plus their own purchases and we discussed some ideas for how the relationship between the gallery and the Trust might develop in future. They have been truly considerate and engaged partners in this project and we are keen to continue this constructive relationship.

There have continued to be a few sales and interest in viewing the studio. This I'm squeezing into a busy work schedule, and Margaret too is entering a busy period. It's this kind of situation where a partnership with the See could be very useful.

I'm also help to plan the Reveal Open Studios weekend (12th and 13th June) when the local artists studios throw open their doors to visitors. Dave's old studio in Haslingden will take part in this and there are a number of jobs we need to get sorted in order to have the studio ready as it's still in a mess from the recent move.

Publicity of the Trust and Dave's work continues. Yesterday we were visited by Emma, a reporter, and Claire, a photographer, from Lancashire Life. They spent a long time with Margaret and myself; not rushing but asking serious and sensible questions about the work and our relationship with Dave. It was a relief after the cursory and rushed visits by some of the national press. We are seriously considering commissioning a film documentary to capitalise on and expand the interest that has grown from the recent interest in Dave and his work.

A wonderful discovery...

2010-05-01T09:18:00.000+01:00

An unexpected email from the grandson of the painter Mckenzie Moss has delivered us a real surprise.

The portrait of Dave Pearson above was made by Mckenzie in 1962 when Dave lodged with Mckenzie and David Bates in Preston. Mckenzie and David were both ex-students of the Royal College of Arts and lecturers at Preston. Dave had recently joined the staff at Preston and at this date presumably travelled up to Preston from London on a weekly basis.

My thanks to Ben Holland for alerting us to this, and to Mckenzie for her permission to show the painting here.

Slowing down and considering the next step

2010-04-25T10:15:00.002+01:00

The local paper, the Rossendale Free Press, had a decent two page feature piece in about Dave and the Trust (rather better written than the tabloid pieces of a few weeks ago). With this the immediate flurry of interest has slowed right down - and we're very grateful for the breather. Now the Trust can start thinking about the next phase - organising things from the move; planning; looking afresh at our roles; and doing this without the pressure of paying a high monthly storage bill.

The Peoples History Museum in Manchester had no space for taking the 'Jarrow March' triptych on permanent loan, but they would like it for 6 months as the centre-piece of an upcoming exhibition on Unemployment. In the meantime Horse + Bamboo Theatre in Waterfoot have installed two of Dave's larger pieces in the Boo (their theatre-space) and are considering the Jarrow piece. At least these will now be seen rather than stored.

News reports, sales, and putting work aside

2010-04-19T18:50:00.001+01:00

Things continue to develop. I got to watch recordings of both the BBC and Granada TV news reports on the move; and both were good. Radio 4 continues to show interest in Dave and his work; and this weekend we sold another 12 or so pieces of work to a serious collector, as well as meeting other collectors who were buying from the See gallery exhibition.

The exhibition at the See has now finished, and this evening I brought back the remaining pieces of work. Far fewer than I took over two months ago. Again, we're very grateful to Julian and Jackie for their support and hard work in helping with Dave's legacy.

Margaret and I also got to put aside a number of pieces to retain, for now at any case, for the Trust, especially prints. Dave did hundreds of wonderful etchings, drypoints, and monoprints in his lifetime but, typically, never produced series - so nearly all are one-offs, and we're concerned that we don't sell them all at this point.

Things have been really busy lately with the Estate. We've every reason to be delighted at our progress as a Trust. But it has meant a lot of hard work, and probably more than we expected. Margaret will now take over our liaison with the press; while I'll continue to oversee the studio.

The next stage

2010-04-17T09:07:00.004+01:00

The interest in Dave's work continues to grow. We've done a lot of heart-searching as a result of the ultimately trivial (and at worst downright misleading) publicity that grew out of moving Dave's large paintings back into the studio. The fact remains that it has engendered another wave of visitors wanting to see and even buy pieces of work. All of these enquiries are genuine, and show that people are wiser than the press appear to think.

Tomorrow we (Margaret and I) will be at the studio, rehanging pieces, clearing up after the move, and meeting some of these interested people. We'll also start the process of deciding which pictures to set aside for the Trust, rather than sell.

Press frenzy nonsense

2010-04-14T15:35:00.000+01:00

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.

We did it!

2010-04-06T17:52:00.001+01:00

By 4.00pm today we had finished! Every last painting is out of the Albion store, and is now packed neatly into Dave's old studio in Haslingden. The system worked; Julian (see below) has a hat to eat for tea, and our friendly removal company did the job perfectly. What relief! Seeing the work at the store I did have some doubts, but in fact the 200 paintings fitted in with room to spare.

The move was accompanied by a live 9.00am broadcast from BBC Radio Lancashire; progress was recorded for TV by BBC Northwest News, and in the afternoon a photographer came from the Daily Mail.

Margaret and The System..

2010-04-04T18:56:00.000+01:00

In readiness for the move of the 200 or so large paintings on Tuesday and Wednesday, Margaret has photographed each one; produced thumbnail tags; and attached them to the original paintings so that once they are squeezed into the studio we'll be able to see what's where simply by looking at the outer edge. Ingenious, and one each side so they can be 'filed' either way.

I'll also have the photograph available so these pieces can now be properly catalogued.

Making space for the big paintings

2010-03-29T18:02:00.000+01:00

The photograph (above) is of one of the upstairs rooms in the refurbished studio. You can see where we've piled boxes and groups of the smaller paintings and other work; in the background are notebooks and very small works. With the exception of a handful or two of small paintings and a pile of perhaps 3 or 400 works on paper from the late hospital period, we now have all of Dave's small works back in his old studio (always excepting those that remain in the house, and those that are still at Globe Arts Studio in Stacksteads - another 1000?).

That leaves 200 large paintings to be brought over from the storage space at Albion Mill. This will happen next week, so we're now busy freeing up space in the lower floors of the studio to accommodate them. Tomorrow we'll free up two large rooms, one on each of the lower floors, and remove any work from the walls that will hinder carrying the large pieces into the building. Finally we'll protect, as best we can, the glass and paintwork.

Once that's over there will be the slow patient work of organising all of the work; cataloguing it; and displaying it so visitors can see a small selection of work by Dave Pearson.

Result!

2010-03-21T08:39:00.000Z

In the event Eddie, Peter, Kay and Sean helped get those plan chest drawers carried right up to the top of the studio. Plus the drawings and paintings in them, of course. I worked at the top, beeswaxing the inside of the chests so the drawers ran smoothly. So, total delight at getting a difficult job done, and with a light touch and good humour too.

Then, at the same time, a party of friends, old friends, and their friends turned up and spent a while investigating the studio. Everyone bought a work and left delighted. So - a good day all round.

Progress - and a twisted knee

2010-03-19T14:03:00.001Z

We made good progress on Monday moving the smaller items from the store in Albion Mill. Without Jonny Quick's help I simply couldn't have done it. In the event it turned out to be (surprise, surprise) a bigger job than I envisaged. We cleared out, and filled a skip with, all the rubbish and moved all the smaller paintings. But the plan chests had more works on paper in them than I remembered, and drawer after drawer revealed quite amazing treasures.

Then, mid-afternoon I twisted my knee and couldn't do much. Fortunately Julian Williams (See gallery) dropped everything and came to the rescue, working with Jonny to carry the drawers full of work into the studio. So at the end of the day most everything was done - but there's still a metre-deep pile of work on paper to be brought over, and all the drawers of work need to be carried up to the top floor of the studio. Then, finally, the downstairs storage rooms need to be emptied in time for the removers over Easter - when the large works will come back home to the studio.

So the removal company have now been booked - for the two days after Easter Bank Holiday Monday. I now need some help with the final jobs (see above) and I'm appealing for volunteers - so it's fingers crossed!

The next phase

2010-03-14T08:39:00.000Z

On Monday the next phase starts! We're spending the day at the storage space doing two things - firstly, moving out (to the studio) anything that will fit into my mid-size Toyota van, and second, tidying the store so that only the large paintings remain there.

To recap - when Dave's studio was cleared out for the refurbishment all his work was put into storage in an old mill space, roughly 6 miles away. Since the work was completed on the studio I've gradually brought the smaller pieces back, and in December we had an opening to celebrate that fact. But since then a large number of big paintings (300?) have remained at the store. This isn't great as its (a) damp, and (b) costs about £400 a month in rent. So tomorrow the final step in moving everything back to the studio starts.

By big paintings, by the way, I mean canvases of about 1.5 x 2.2 metres in size.

Then over Easter I'll hire a remover with a big van to recover the big paintings and (with help) I'll move these back to the studio, and the whole storage issue will be over. No more damp or rental to pay.

My worry is that we'll actually fit all the big paintings back in. Logically they all came out, so they should go back. But I've taken over the ground floor front room, which is the most accessible space, as a gallery room. So without this it's possible we won't have enough space to return all the work. I'll report when when we cross that bridge....

All change at the See

2010-02-27T09:52:00.002Z

Last week we selected some new paintings as so many had been sold during the first two weeks of the exhibition at the See gallery. Julian has now rehung the exhibition, so it's a quite new experience.

I've also began to plan out the next stage of the move from the store into the studio. In a few weeks time we'll spend a day moving all the last of the small pieces out; and removing rubbish and unnecessary items such as old shelves and drawers. I'm also asking removal companies for quotations for a move in April to take all of the large pieces to the studio. Then we can leave Albion and there will be one less bill for the Trust to pay. Of course this will be an enormous job, and I still worry whether everything will fit back into the studio AND leave space for a neat and tidy display room.

There has also been a positive initial response from the Ferens Arts Gallery in Hull. Early days, of course, but something to work on and yet another demonstration that Dave's work is of serious interest beyond his colleagues and friends.

More work at the See

2010-02-21T17:26:00.001Z

I've been snowbound much of the last week, and hadn't visited the exhibition at the See but Julian called me to discuss things. So many of the pieces have been sold that we need to replenish the stock - not because pieces are being taken off the walls but simply because visitors are disappointed that there isn't much left to buy.

This is really good news for the Trust; I promised to meet up with Julian at the studio tomorrow to choose some more work for the exhibition. In addition I had a couple of visitors to the studio yesterday and sold several pieces to them.

Dave Pearson : Unseen Works

2010-02-15T08:40:00.000Z

It has been a busy few days. On Friday night the See gallery opened on the new exhibition of Dave's work. One of the visitors was Derek Smith, a film-maker who travelled up from London to see the work and hear more about Dave. On Saturday Margaret and I took Derek to see the studio and the store of work, and discuss more about Dave and the possibility of making a film about him. Derek thought that an hour long film was possible; that Dave's life and work made a great story. Derek made the film on Lucien Freud's sitters (models) for Border TV, and more recently a long feature on Edward Lear and his travels - broadcast on Sky Arts.

The opening itself was good - the usual See opening with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere; a lot of interest in the work, and quite a crowd. Someone who couldn't make the opening was Rob Dobson, who had worked on a show at the Bede Gallery in Jarrow with Dave and myself back in 1975. Rob appeared on Sunday with his wife Nicola and youngest daughter, Lotte. On Sunday I took them round to the gallery, the studio, and the store. There was a lot to catch up on as I hadn't seen Rob for over 30 years. A lot of reminiscing about Dave and the usual astonishment at the quality and quantity of work that he has left behind.

Tonight's the night

2010-02-12T07:58:00.000Z

Tonight there's the private view at the See and tomorrow the gallery opens for Dave Pearson: Unseen Works.

I was at the gallery last night titling and pricing the pieces. Julian and Jackie have made a wonderful job of selecting and displaying the work. They have been almost totally responsible for selecting the work in the exhibition and it really is nearly all previously unshown. Generally the pieces chosen don't belong to any of Dave's main series of work, so there are a lot of surprises. Some of the pieces have only been uncovered within the past week or two as I've been moving things around in the store or studio.

What has been a particular revelation is how framing and displaying has shown just how special some of the work on card or board is - work that I had previously seen simply as sketches or minor preparatory pieces.

Preparing for the opening

2010-02-07T09:00:00.000Z

Jackie has been arranging paintings at the See Gallery and came, with her friend Amanda, to meet me at the store and then the studio to select another painting or two to fit unfilled places on the gallery walls. The fact that we have so many of Dave's paintings means that there's nearly always something that will fit, whatever the hole on the wall.

I looked in at the Gallery later. Although nothing was hung, things were placed or suspended and it was just possible to get an impression of what the final display might look like. I think it will be very interesting, particularly as so much that has been chosen falls outside of Dave's major series such as the early Van Gogh work, or the Byzantium work that took up most of his time in the 1990s.

We've included a few of the Bestiary paintings that have been stored at Globe Arts studios. These are a revelation to me, as I've only seen them in photographs. These were probably Dave's last major series of oil paintings as his work from 2000 was mainly on paper or, see above, string and nail assemblages.

More work discovered....

2010-02-02T19:00:00.000Z

I went to Globe Arts today, courtesy of Ruth and John, and visited the studio space that Dave used there - as one of the artists that make this such an interesting artists studio.

Because of his illness Dave hadn't really worked much in the studio for several years, although he paid rent on the space until his death. The studio, kindly, has waived rent since then, but I've been aware that the Trust needed to deal with these pieces of work.

What first hits you approaching Dave's old space are the string and nail assemblages that are gathered together to create a kind of installation (see above). They hark back to Dave's illness, and several of the pieces contain medical items. The overall effect is powerful, almost violent. I fear most of this will have to be discarded - the pieces are going to be very hard to store and stack; and there simply won't be enough space in the studio. Any ideas out there?

There was also about a hundred canvases, including many of the Bestiary series, painted between 1988 and 2000. These I'll collect together and take back to the studio once the big paintings have been moved out of the store. Finally there's the detritus of Dave's presence - his old jacket, coffee pot and cups - none of this has been moved, out of a kind of respect. I said to Ruth and John to use any of the materials they find useful, and to throw away the other everyday items.