JOHN VIRTUE, Accrington born lad

[Atarah]

There begins an exhibition of work by Accrington man, John Virtue at the National gallery in London from March until June 2005.
Working in the National Gallery's studio, Virtue has made eleven paintings for this exhibition, four representing the London cityscape looking towards St Paul's Cathedral, four of the city from the roof of Somerset House and three from the roof of the National Gallery looking towards Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column. Executed solely in black and white, they are monumental works, the largest of which is over seven metres across.

Virtue is a landscape painter whose relationship to the National Gallery collection runs deep, being inspired by Turner, Constable, Rubens and other painters of the great European landscape tradition.

He has paintings up the Haworth Art Gallery, one a winter scene looking over Accrington. This used to be on a wall over the staircase, but dont think its on show at the moment.

Will update with more details of this gentleman as I find them. I believe he used to live up Green Haworth and was a post man on the early shift, so he could devote afternoons/evenings to his love of painting.

[Tealeaf]

John Virtue - b.1947
Click for images.


Painter, etcher


Biography
1947 Born in Accrington, Lancashire
1965-69 Studied at Slade School, of Fine Art where he was taught by Frank Auerbach
1970-77 Taught part-time then began painting full-time
1971 Moved to Green Haworth, a small village on the edge of the Pennine
moorland and concentrated single-mindedly on painting this location
1973-1980 Abandoned painting in favour of a dense network of lines drawn with pen and
ink, worked as a postman for 7 years, deliberately removing himself from contact with the art world
1980 Began laying his drawings in hardboard in monumental grid formations

Awards
1964 Won First Prize in the Sunday Mirror painting exhibition
1966 Won Walter Neurath prize for painting awarded by Thames & Hudson
Publishers
1981 Arts Council Major Award
1983 Major prize-winner in the 4th Tolly Cobbold Exhibition


Selected Solo Exhibitions
1985,86,90 The Lisson Gallery, London
1995 Whitechapel Art Gallery; Arnolfini, Bristol; Douglas Hyde Gallery (touring)
1995 John Virtue: New Paintings, Jason & Rhodes, London
1999-2000 John Virtue: Large Paintings of the Exe Estuary 1998-2000, Tate Gallery, St. Ives, Catalogue: Paul Moorehouse
2000 John Virtue, Last Paintings of the Exe Estuary, 1998-2000, Annandale Gallery, Sydney

Forthcoming Solo Exhibitions
National Gallery, London (the Sunley Galleries), John Virtue, New Paintings of London, 16 March - 5 June 2005
The Courtauld Institute, London, John Virtue, Drawings and Small Paintings, March - 5 June 2005.
A catalogue with introductory essay by Simon Schama will accompany these two exhibitions

Selected Group Exhibitions
1986 Six Painters at Max Protech Gallery, New York

Selected Bibliography
John Virtue: Green Haworth 1978-1988 with an essay by Richard Cork, Lisson Gallery, London, 1988
John Virtue: New Paintings, Jason & Rhodes, 1995
Paul Moorehouse, John Virtue: Large Paintings of the Exe Estuary 1998-2000, Tate Gallery, St. Ives

Public Collections include
Tate Gallery, London; British Museum, London; Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Arts Council England; Government Art Collection; Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT; Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis

[garinda]

l know the painting, it's quite gloomy. & impressive & very like a Lancashire winter. Interesting to find out he's doing so well. Perhaps there should be a thread about the Howarth? Do people go, are they proud of it?
l love it, but think some of the monthly exhibitions aren't that good, or relevant to Hyndburn. There was one about old people's memories, most of whom were from Salford. They should rotate the permanent paintings more too.

[WillowTheWhisp]

I think his mother used to teach at Peel Park school. I'm fairly sure for a brief period he also worked with my Dad because I can remember my Dad talking about him, more as being Mrs. Virtue's son than as being an artist but there was a large painting of his on display in the library for quite a while. What happened to that? It may still even be in the library for all I know. I very rarely go there these days as they never seem to have anything I want to borrow.

[Doug]

I no art critic and far be it from me to be critical is this case, but I think I would have to see his work in person in order to come to terms with it. It is dark and brooding. I could feel quite distressed concentrating on any of those images. Thanks Atarah for putting this on, I’ve said elsewhere that I should make an effort and visit the gallery, Tealeaf, thanks for the background information.

[les stewart]

I think he is an old Grammar School boy, a couple of years ahead of me, and may have been at St mary Magdalen's my old junior school before that. I remember he did a plaster of paris pour into clay that he had pressed his fingers into, and odd bits of screws and stuff, it looked quite weird when it came out, about 1963 from memory

[WillowTheWhisp]

The painting in the library was a landscape of Accrington and was quite dark and brooding but not half as dark looking as those images in the link. The "dense networks of lines drawn with a pen" do absolutely nothing for me at all.

You may be right about him going to St Mary Magdalene's because I know he didn't go to Peel Park where Mrs. Virtue worked.

[Atarah]

Bit more info now ....

He was born in Accrington either 1947 or could have been 1949, not too sure and lived on Birkett Rd., worked from a shed in the garden. Whilst at the Accrington Grammar Sschool he won the Thwaites Scholarship and went to the Slade School of Fine Art in London.
He then lectured at Liverpool Poly on Fine Art. Produced a series of views of Acc, many from the roof of a factory where he worked. From 1972 - 78 worked as a freelance artist He then got a job as a postman to finance his hobby. Married Jennifer, also an artist, moved to 2 Newthorn Green Haworth, then moved to Somerset 1987.

[WillowTheWhisp]

Originally Posted by Atarah

Bit more info now ....

Produced a series of views of Acc, many from the roof of a factory where he worked.

Yes! That's it! Tthat was probably when he worked with my Dad so going off the year it was probably at RGS Electro-Pneumatics when it was at the top of Church Street next to Lionel Robinsons.

[lindsay ormerod]

Any info on where that painting went ? The large one that used to be on the stairs in the Haworth ? It's not been there for ages now .

[WillowTheWhisp]

How did he manage to do this one in 1886? Can't help thinking they must mean 1996