AUCTION on 3rd APRIL ‘25

Two of John’s North East watercolours are for sale at Anderson & Garland’s Fine Art Auction on Thursday 3rd April. You can bid in person or online and see details at https://www.andersonandgarland.com/auction/details/fa030425-fine-art-auction/?au=818

Both were painted in the 1980s and measure approx 43x53cms in their frames. Lot 975 “From the Causeway, Holy Island, Northumberland, Bamburgh Castle on left” and Lot 976 “Tyne Valley from Hedley on the Hill” are being sold by a third party and before they appeared in the auction catalogue they were unknown to us so it’s exciting to have “found” them. They are both signed and dated.

THE MONTAGU PIT DISASTER

On 30th March 1925, 107 men and 41 boys were working the Brockwell Seam at the Montagu Pit in Scotswood just outside Lemington. At 9.25 in the morning an explosive charge set in a projection of coal was fired to allow it to be loaded into tubs and brought to the surface. 15 minutes later a thin trickle of smelly water appeared. Unknown to the men the workings were adjacent to the long abandoned Paradise Pit. The pressure of water escaping from it soon shattered the thin wall of coal separating the 2 mines and water flooded in, trapping 38 miners underground. Some were drowned. Others were gassed. It took seven weeks to remove the first body from the mine and five months to bring all of them to the surface.

John’s oil painting, held in a private collection, “Montagu Pit Yard After Demolition” was painted in 1961. It was a place that obviously resonated with him as we know from records of the existence of five other paintings of the same subject. Those five are all on our list of  over 450 “missing” paintings. Please email if you can help us to track one down!

LOT 16 - January 14, 2025

A framed oil on board painting by John called “Dunes on the Coast” which is signed and dated 26 April 1962 is being sold by a third party through Thomas Miller Auctioneers in Newcastle online and in house from 10am. https://bidonline.millersauctioneers.co.uk/auctions

It measures 28cms x 35cms and has a label on the back showing that it was sold originally through The Stone Gallery in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

John exhibited at the Stone in the 1960s alongside L.S. Lowry, Norman Cornish, John Piper, Sheila Fell and other artists of note.

Christmas cards and gifts

Christmas cards, the “Tyne & Tide” book and giclee prints of John’s work are on sale now at the Mining Art Gallery in Bishop Auckland and at the Come View My Art Gallery in Gateshead. You can also buy direct through our website and if there’s anything you’d like that either isn’t in stock or that isn’t showing as “for sale” on our website, please get in touch as we’re more than happy to do bespoke orders. Prices are the same as for regular stock. We can also post or email gift cards if you’re unsure what to buy for someone else. As always, any profits go towards helping us to protect and promote John’s work and we are very grateful for your support. Email info@johnpeacepaintings.co.uk

Watercolour for sale.....

…this Thursday 26 September at Anderson & Garland’s “Modern Art & Design” auction in Newcastle and online. It is untitled, undated and signed on the back of the frame and is of St Cuthbert’s Isle, Holy Island. We know of an oil painting John did of the same view. For many years while a lecturer at Sunderland University, John would take his students on residential trips to Holy Island so it is an oft-visited subject. When the tide comes in, St Cuthbert’s Isle becomes separated from Holy Island and so becomes a tidal island off a tidal island. It is accessible only by foot at low tide. Visit www.andersonandgarland.com for details of Lot 934

The Mining Art Gallery

There are only a few weeks left to visit “The Last Cage Down” in Bishop Auckland, an exhibition which marks the 40th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike. John’s watercolour “Reclamation Percy Pit” is on show alongside many wonderful and interesting works by mining artists such as Norman Cornish, Bob Olley and Tom McGuinness and which portray the declining years of the coal mining industry and way of life before it was lost forever. The exhibition closes on 6 October.

Tynemouth

John painted both King Edward’s Bay and Longsands in Tynemouth many times over the years, both in oil and watercolour. It’s a glorious place whatever the weather! This little watercolour, which is signed but untitled, was painted in the summer of 1995.

The Blaydon Races....

This photo shows John in his studio in Lemington in the 1960s. On the easel is a painting called “The Ninth of June, 1962” and this photo is the only visual record we have of it. It is one of around 450 of John’s “missing” paintings and is of historical importance. It shows crowds on Scotswood Bridge celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Blaydon Races. The original Blaydon Races were horse races, commemorated in “The Blaydon Races” music hall song written and performed by Geordie Ridley in 1862. The song charts the colourful journey from Balmbra’s in Newcastle to the racecourse site at Blaydon Island. The site of the original races is long gone following the dredging of the River Tyne but there is now a modern road race held on June 9th which follows follows the route taken by original spectators on the omnibus from Newcastle. Let us know if you come across the painting so we can get details for our records!

The final years....

In the last decade of his life although John still sold work it was only to people who approached him directly. He began to concentrate on projects that interested him purely from an artistic point of view and to buy back paintings of his own as they began to come onto the market again. John was always more interested in painting than in promoting his work and as a result, despite the critical acclaim he received in the national press in the early years, his popularity was limited largely to the North-East. He often half-joked that he would only become famous after his death. On the night he died John’s family decided to work towards making sure that his legacy lives on.

"The Last Cage Down"

…an exhibition which brings together works of art that portray the declining years of the coal mining industry opens on May 3rd at the Mining Art Gallery in Bishop Auckland. John’s painting “Reclamation Percy Pit” will be on show as part of it. The Mining Art Gallery is part of the Auckland Project which features two art galleries, a castle, a museum, a 15 metre tall viewing tower, three restaurants, a kitchen garden and a deer park and makes for a wonderful day out in the heart of County Durham.

Two watercolours are up for auction....

…at Anderson & Garland Auctioneers in Newcastle (and online) on Wednesday 20th March.

LOT 566 is "Dunstanburgh Castle from Newton", signed and dated 28th November '73.
We know from notes on an exhibition catalogue that it was sold originally at the Bondgate Gallery in Alnwick for the princely sum of £50 - about £650 in today’s money.

LOT 577 is "Footbridge Skye", signed, annotated, and dated '92. This painting has never been sold before as John gifted it to a good friend.

https://www.andersonandgarland.com/auction/search/?st=john%20peace&sto=0&au=692&sf=%5B%5D&w=False&pn=1

Turn of the Century

John continued to paint and exhibit work and to teach as a visiting lecturer at universities in Newcastle and Sheffield as well as giving lessons at the occasional amateur art class. “Eric’s Cafe” was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2009.

This pair of oils painted in 2005 (“Whitby Sands, The White Pony” and “Whitby Sands, The Brown Donkey”) depicts idyllic scenes on the North Yorkshire coast. Like countless others John spent many happy days here with his children and grandchildren. He had these paintings reproduced as prints (available in our website shop) entitled “Beside the Seaside – the White Pony” and “Beside the Seaside – the Brown Donkey”. He could be inconsistent with the naming of his paintings – which keeps us on our toes! 

The 1990s

During this decade John & RoseMary travelled frequently to France, Scotland, Holland and Spain and also to Germany and Greece. John painted many beautiful landscapes throughout this time, most of which were sold through the Chris Beetles Gallery in London and through exhibitions at the Dean Gallery in Newcastle and the Vicarage Cottage Gallery in North Shields. The only records we have of the majority of these paintings are titles (and sometimes mediums and sizes or prices) listed in bills of sale or in catalogues.

This oil painting is of John’s wife RoseMary trying to get warm in front of a Godin stove and was painted in Northern France over Christmas 1991. It is one of the many we’ve lost track of.

We are on the hunt for details of as many works as possible so that we can add them to information for the catalogue raisonne we are working towards publishing. If you can help in any way we’d be very grateful if you could email us at info@johnpeacepaintings.co.uk Thank you!

Christmas is coming....

Christmas cards are now on sale through the website along with our mounted, high quality giclee prints and copies of the wonderful book “Tyne & Tide”. There’s also the option to buy gift cards which can either be sent by post or by email for that last minute present. Email info@johnpeacepaintings.co.uk with any special requests and we’ll do our best to help! Profits go a little way towards helping us to protect and promote John’s work.

For guaranteed delivery please place orders by Monday 18th December.

The 1980s

Having taught at Sunderland College of Art for twenty five years, John retired in 1988. He then turned his attention to painting full-time, though continued to inspire students as a visiting lecturer at universities in Newcastle and Sheffield as well as teaching the occasional art class. He continued to exhibit with the Mowbray Gallery in Sunderland, the Bondgate in Alnwick, the Dean Gallery in Newcastle and the Vicarage Cottage Gallery in North Shields. From the late 1980s he was also represented by the Chris Beetles Gallery in London. 

“Winter – Valley of the West Allen near Ninebanks”, 1989 

The 1970s

John had been teaching at Sunderland College of Art since the early ‘60s, often painting into the early hours after work and on his days off. In the early 1970s he bought a VW campervan and spent long summer breaks from college touring with his young family, first around Northumberland and Scotland for a few summers before venturing across the channel to Europe. Although John’s focus remained painting around the North-East, these trips further afield afforded him new subject matter.

The 1960s

This was an exciting decade for John - both professionally & personally. He joined an august selection of artists who exhibited at the Stone Gallery in Newcastle - L.S. Lowry, Norman Cornish & Sheila Fell among them - and he began a long and very productive relationship with the Bondgate Gallery in Alnwick. Having married in 1959, the 1960’s saw the births of John & RoseMary’s six children.

The 1950s

Having moved on from South Shields to Leeds School of Art, where his work was seen as outdated by his lecturers (so much so that he was banished to an attic room to work on his own so that he wouldn’t influence other students), John won a scholarship to the Slade School of Art in London. He was one of the youngest in his year group but was deadly serious about his work - a quality he later admired and rewarded in his own students. He completed his diploma in two years, rather than the usual three. National Service followed, first as a private with the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and then as a sergeant in the Intelligence Corps in Cyprus. We have recently found a portfolio of around 100 sketches and watercolours from this period which we’re busy recording. A very small selection is below.

The 1940s.....

By his mid-teens John had become increasingly serious about becoming a painter despite the fact that, as the oldest of five siblings, the expectation was that he would take on the family grocery business or work in the local coal mine. It was John’s secondary school art teacher who persuaded his parents that he should be permitted to apply for a place at South Shields School of Art. John always spoke fondly his tutors there, describing his formative two years at the art school as some of the happiest and most fulfilling of his life. Painted in 1949 while a student at South Shields, “Lemington Point”, is one of John’s earliest known works.

Letter from John’s friend and fellow student, Allan Graham, with some early memories of their time studying at South Shields. 

A Lifetime of Painting - The 1930s

For the remainder of 2023, in celebration of what would have been John’s 90th year, each month we’re going to share some memories from a decade of his life. Pictured here is his first known work - “House” - which his mother said was painted when he was just two years old. A note on the back in John’s hand, however, says it was more likely to have been done at the age of four.

The accompanying photo shows John at about two and a half years old outside his Nanna Elliot’s house in Lemington. “Nanna Elliot” was actually no relation, but a trusted friend of John’s mother, who often looked after him and his young siblings while his parents were running their grocer’s shop. A sensitive child, John later recalled that one of his earliest memories was of being very concerned about the most suitable arrangement for the bottom of his woollen jersey for the photograph - would it be best rolled up, or down? His resolution to this “problem of proportional relationships” was to have it half rolled up, and half rolled down!