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Portraits
Early mining portraits show coal owners and colliery managers. These commissioned works marked specific events or milestones and were painted to give a sense of importance or esteem.
The images of coal miners were not recorded in the same way. This changed in 1947, when the National Coal Board (NCB) commissioned the artists to record workers in the newly nationalised industry.
As the mining industry declined, photographers documented the last remaining mineworkers whose contribution to the industry had previously been overlooked.
