'Removing Props' by George William Bissill (1896 – 1973)


Mr Joseph Henry Ostel (Pit Profile no. 13, May 1948) by H. Andrew Freeth (1912 – 1986)


'Women Waiting for News' (1992) by Tom McGuinness (1926 – 2006)

The Art Collections

Many visitors to the Museum are often surprised to discover that mining and art go hand in hand. However, the two have a long history which goes back to the sixteenth century. During the early twentieth-century art was championed by the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA). The first WEA-led art course began in 1934 after it was requested by two of its members, who included a miner from Ashington Colliery. From this early course the Ashington Group was formed. Similar groups that were established at the same time included the Spennymoor Settlement. Both organisations have played a vital role in giving mining art a legitimate place in the history of twentieth-century art.

Image: 'Removing Props'  by George William Bissill (1896 – 1973)
Oil on canvas
© Unknown. The Museum would welcome further information about who may hold the legal copyright to this work.

Following nationalisation the NCB built up an extensive art collection and held annual art competitions to encourage creativity among mining communities. During the twentieth century a number of highly accomplished artists who began their careers in the mining industry have since become renowned as artists in their own right.

Image: 'Mr Joseph Henry Ostel' (Pit Profile no. 13, May 1948) by H. Andrew Freeth (1912 – 1986)
Oil on canvas
Freeth was commissioned by the newly formed National Coal Board to undertake a series of portraits of its mineworkers. Between 1947 and 1952 these portraits were reproduced each month in Coal Magazine as part of a series called ‘Pit Profiles’.
© The Freeth Family

The art collection at the Museum relates to the mining industry and mining communities. They are a combination of works by professional artists and by artists who were themselves miners.  Much of the Museum’s holdings have been created by amateur or unschooled artists. The significance of this work lies not in the artist’s technical ability alone, but also serves as an invaluable social record of an industry and community that has all but disappeared.

Image: Women Waiting for News (1992) by Tom McGuinness (1926 – 2006)
Lithograph
© The McGuinness Family