Dave Pearson's self-portraits

The critic Edward Lucie-Smith wrote in one of his essays about Dave Pearson's work -

"(his)...own series of self-images exceeds both Van Gogh and Rembrandt in terms of number. They show a huge range of stylistic flexibility, with each change of style reflecting a change of mood."

When the Dave Pearson Trust existed it took the decision to limit the number of self-portraits sold, in part because the family were uncertain as to which they were prepared to sell. More recently we've held a small exhibition of self-portraits at the Studio, and not surprisingly there is growing interest among collectors in these pieces.

There are over 120 self-portraits in the catalogue of Dave's work, and it would be interesting to look more closely at these and see what are the main stylistic variations. Then to see how they reflect and portray the mood of the artist, as suggested by Lucie-Smith.  

Dave Pearson at the Bridgeman Art Library

One of the things that has taken us longer to achieve than originally planned has been to establish a link between the Dave Pearson Trust and the Bridgeman Art Library. Edward Lucie-Smith first put us in touch with the Bridgeman several years ago and since then we've rather struggled to get together the necessary high-quality images which we could submit to them. 

Now, at last, Ella and I have managed to send a selection to the Bridgeman and we're pleased to say that they have now created a page for Dave Pearson within their Art Library website. It means that copies of the selected painting scan be bought as prints from the Art Library to be used in publications, and proper copyright payments and credits will be awarded to our Trust. 

Below is a sample of a page from the Bridgeman. To look further go to https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en-GB/ and enter 'Dave Pearson' into their search engine. It includes tags to help organisations looking for a suitable image to narrow their search, and a lightbox facility to look at the artwork properly. 

Now we've managed to put a small number of Dave Pearson's images into the library, we hope to expand the number as high quality photographs become available. 

The Bridgeman Art Library

More exciting activity to report on! Yesterday Margaret Mytton and I travelled to London to meet with Leonora Gummer of the Artists' Collecting Society (ACS) and Lucy Innes Williams of the Bridgeman Studio to discuss Dave's work being licensed by the Bridgeman Art Library. The original suggestions for the meeting came from our old friends Edward Lucie-Smith and Sergei Reviakin. 

The two organisations are separate but closely linked. The ACS is a not-for-profit organisation that deals with collecting artists re-sale rights for works resold over 1000 euros. This means a small percentage of the resale price of an artwork goes back to the artist, or their estate, if it is resold. This is an EU law, only available to artists in the UK since 2006. 

The Bridgeman Art Library is a commercial picture library that specialises is images of art and holds over a million images from collections throughout the world. It has offices in New York, Berlin and Paris, as well as London. It licenses the reproduction of artwork, and splits the income equally with the artists, or their estates.

So, for example,  Bridgeman holds the copyright for the work of Lucien Freud, Augustus John, John Nash, Sir Frank Brangwyn, Arthur Rackham, Carel Weight and Eric Gill. They also hold copyrights for the collections of the Ashmolean, Fitzwilliam, the Royal Collections and Manchester Museums and Galleries as well as the British Library. So this is clearly a good place for Dave Pearson's work to be made available.

We had a number of questions for Lucy - would it affect our ability to use the images locally without cost? No. Would people be able to download images and avoid payment? No, every image is water-marked until a fee has been paid. What use could the images be put to? Lucy showed us examples of artists' images used on book-covers, magazines, advertising; she assured us that the DPT could have a final say on usage, when and how it is used, and she reassured us that it is a condition of use that all images are credited. 

We went away feeling very positive about ACS and the Bridgeman the Art Library. The atmosphere in their offices was very friendly and open, as were the people we met. It seems like another opportunity to get Dave's work seen and more widely known. Over the next few days I'll be looking at the small print, and almost certainly signing the forms that will bring Dave's work to a new platform.

A birthday

Being trustees of the Dave Pearson Trust has taken us on a number of interesting journeys over the past few years - getting involved in the making of the 'To Byzantium' film; various shennanigans involving tv and radio broadcasts; and the curating of a large exhibition of Dave's work in London - among other things. 

The curating part was trustee Margaret Mytton working in close partnership with the writer and critic Edward Lucie-Smith (above), and a few days ago we were invited to the Albermarle Gallery in London to be part of a gathering to celebrate Edward's 80th birthday. 

Edward, who got to hear about Dave Pearson's work through Derek Smith when he was directing the film, has since been a great champion of Dave's work and was instrumental in organising the London exhibition last year. 

It was clear from the people we met at the party that Edward is also a tireless supporter of young artists from all sorts of backgrounds - his interest and championing of art in developing countries, in his native Jamaica, in Iran, and young artists at the beginning of their careers in this country. This was reflected in the people we met at the Albermarle, and in a short speech Edward made, not only about the changing shape of the 'art world', but in the radical changes and opportunities opening up by the revolution in IT and the internet.

So a happy 80th birthday Edward, from all of us at the Dave Pearson Trust.

Stock-taking!

It's exactly four years since the Dave Pearson Trust was formed in February 2009, six months after Dave Pearson's death. In that time a lot has happened. For anyone new to this blog, it has meant:

• Moving all of his 15,000+ artworks out of the dilapidated studio
• Rebuilding and major renovation of the inside of Dave's old studio and returning the artworks
• Starting the job of cataloguing and organising of the paintings, drawings, prints and other artwork
• Commissioning a comprehensive documentary film about Dave's work
• Organising the showing of the film, now being shown regularly on the Community Channel
• Overseeing the first major exhibition of Dave's work in London, co-curated by Edward Lucie-Smith
• Publishing a booklet/catalogue with essays about Dave
• Planning future exhibitions and on-going publicising of Dave's work
• Developing links with local and other buyers, notably with the help of the See Gallery
• Selling Dave's artwork, using the proceeds to support our work

The blog was something I started to chart the progress of the Trust as, in 2009, there were no guidelines as to how to go about what seemed a daunting task. All we had was our confidence that Dave Pearson's work was important and needed to be rescued from possible destruction, and then to be made known to the wide  world. 

So we've a lot to be happy about. The next four years? Well, we now have a part-time researcher and assistant, Ella Cole (pictured above), working so that cataloguing Dave's work is continuing on a more regular basis; Margaret Mytton is developing a new website to focus on Dave's small drawings and gouaches on the 'Book of Revelation'; I'm planning a major overhaul of our website; exhibitions are being planned in 2013; and I'm also going to concentrate on looking at major galleries as a home for one or two examples of Dave's major series of paintings. 

So plenty to get on with!

Hanging commences

Margaret Mytton is now in London and, helped by Taidgh and Darren, is now starting the hang of the show. Edward Lucie Smith will be along today and final positioning of the work will be agreed before the paintings start being mounted on the walls. 

Margaret tells me that she already feels sure that additional lighting will be required so this now has to be negotiated with Mick Bateman  of Crisis. Fortunately we bought and took down several halogen lamps down with us (from Lidl!), and these apparently do the job perfectly. 

I'm working on final graphics for the exhibition, and will be sending these to London with Julian on Sunday so the local print-shop can prepare the boards for the opening next week. 

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.

Visitors, and colour

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... 

Split Tree Warriors - and another busy week

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. 

Following on...

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...

Roads opening up...

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.

Julian has his work cut out.

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.

Frame grabs from "To Byzantium'

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. 

Bermondsey

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

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. 

Almost there...

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. 

Easter viewings - and more sales

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.... 

April arrives

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....