Norman Cornish
{{Short description|British artist (1919–2014)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Norman Cornish
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Norman Cornish01.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = "Berriman's Chip Van" by Norman Cornish
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1919|11|18 }}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2014|8|1|1919|11|18 }}
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Artist
| spouse = Sarah
| children = 2
| relations =
}}
Norman Stansfield Cornish (18 November 1919 – 1 August 2014) was an English miner and an artist, particularly in the field of painting, focusing on mining life and community.
Biography
Norman Cornish was born in 1919 in Spennymoor, (later to house the Spennymoor Settlement) in County Durham in North East England. He started work as a miner in 1933, at the age of 14,{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11008918/Norman-Cornish-obituary.html|title=Norman Cornish - obituary|date=3 August 2014|publisher=Daily Telegraph}} and continued to work as a miner after his painting career was established, until he retired to become a full-time artist in 1966.
Married to Sarah, the couple had two children, John and Ann.{{cite news|last1=McNay|first1=Michael|author-link=Michael McNay|title=Norman Cornish obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/aug/04/norman-cornish|accessdate=5 August 2014|work=The Guardian|date=2014-08-01}} Cornish died in 2014.
Career
Cornish joined the "Pitman's Academy" art school, in the Spennymoor Settlement, at the age of 15, becoming known as a "pit painter", and was the last surviving member of the Spennymoor institute.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-28623350|title=Last 'Pitman painter' Norman Cornish dies aged 94|date=2 August 2014|publisher=BBC News}} A former miner,{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wear/features/2004/09/norman_cornish.shtml|title=The Art of Norman Cornish|date=September 2004|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2014-08-02}} he was known for his pictures of mining community life.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2014/may/24/archive-1960-narrow-world-norman-cornish|title=From the archive, 24 May 1960: The narrow world of Norman Cornish|publisher=The Guardian|author=Sid Chaplin | date=24 May 1960|accessdate=2014-08-02}} Other artistic contemporaries of Cornish from the Spennymoor Settlement included Herbert Dees, Robert Heslop and Tom McGuinness.{{cite web|url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/11383938.Celebrated_County_Durham_artist_Norman_Cornish_dies_aged_94/|title=Celebrated County Durham artist Norman Cornish dies aged 94|publisher=The Northern Echo|date= 3 August 2014}}
Cornish was granted an honorary Master of Arts degree by Newcastle University in 1974, and an honorary doctorate by Sunderland University in 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2012-07-09/honour-for-artist-norman-cornish/|title=Honour for artist Norman Cornish|publisher=ITV.com|date=9 July 2012|accessdate=2014-08-02}} He was a contemporary and friend of the artist L. S. Lowry.
Artworks
Cornish's {{convert|22|x|29|in|abbr=on}} painting, "Bar Scene" was found to contain a self-portrait of the artist on the enclosed back side of the canvas in 2024. Potentially unknown for 60 years, the self-portrait is the 29th known of Cornish.{{cite news |last1=Masih |first1=Niha |title='Magical' self-portrait was hidden for decades - until the canvas was flipped |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/magical-self-portrait-was-hidden-for-decades-until-the-canvas-was-flipped/ |access-date=23 July 2024 |work=The Seattle Times |publisher=The Washington Post |date=21 July 2024}}
Legacy
To mark the 100th anniversary of Cornish's birth, the Bowes Museum organised the first "major retrospective" of Cornish's work. The exhibition was scheduled to run from November 2019 to February 2020.{{cite news |title=Miner artist's works in 'major' retrospective |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-49781039 |accessdate=13 November 2019 |publisher=BBC News |date=22 September 2019}} An exhibition of some of Cornish's 269 sketchbooks was scheduled for display over the same period at Durham University's Palace Green Library.{{cite news |title=Sketches from miner-turned-artist to go on show |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-50365848 |accessdate=13 November 2019 |publisher=BBS News |date=10 November 2019}}
In 2019, a 'Norman Cornish Trail' was created in Spennymoor to allow people to follow a 1.5 mile route to view many of the scenes painted by Cornish.{{cite news |last1=MacFarlane |first1=Katie |title=Legacy created for Norman Cornish on centenary of his birth |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/17555131.legacy-created-for-loved-spennymoor-artist-norman-cornish-on-centenary-of-his-birth/ |accessdate=13 November 2019 |work=The Northern Echo |date=6 April 2019 |language=en}}
A room within the art gallery at Spennymoor Town Hall has been dedicated to exhibiting paintings by Cornish.{{cite web|url= https://issuu.com/kingfisher-media/docs/welcome_to_durham_tees_valley |title=A hub of culture and creativity|publisher=Welcome to Durham Tees Valley|page=51|date=16 April 2021|accessdate=25 January 2021}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.normancornish.com/ Artist's website]
- {{Art UK bio}}
{{Authority control}}
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