Pitmen Painters: Ashington Group, 1934-84

The Ashington Group began in the early 1930s as an evening class of Northumbrian pitmen keen to learn about art. Within weeks they were producing their own work and within a few years their paintings amounted to a complete record of life in a mining community: clocking in, work at the coal face, the pithead baths, Saturday night at the club, the corner shop, dog track, pigeon crees, kitchen, ally and allotment - their paintings ring true, transcending the usual limitations of amateur art. William Feaver establishes this "unprofessional" painting in the context of Ashington and of art history, illustrating his book with dozens of paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures by the Group as well as with archive photographs.