Trevor Grimshaw was born in Hyde, Cheshire in 1947 and studied at the Stockport College of Art from 1963 to 1968. He developed a unique style working in oils charcoal and graphite to produce atmospheric, stylised images of the Northern industrial landscape, mainly in monochrome.
Grimshaw exhibited widely in the UK (including at the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Academy in the 1970’s) as well as in the US and Germany. His work was included in the private collections of LS Lowry, Edward Heath, the Warburton Family and Gerald Kaufman and he is represented in a number of public collections, including The Tate Gallery, Salford Art Gallery, Stockport Art Gallery and Bury Art Gallery. He illustrated "The Singing Street", a book of poems by Mike Harding. Geoffrey Key described Grimshaw, a long time friend, as "one of the most important graphic artists working in the north during the last half of the 20th century".
By the time of his tragic death, in a house fire in 2001, Grimshaw had become a reclusive figure. He held his last show in 1997 in the County Museum and Art Gallery at Prostejov, Moravia, Czech Republic, his 50th show in his 50th year, and in 2004 a major retrospective exhibition was held at Stockport Art Gallery in celebration of his life and work.
To think, I almost bought one of his drawings off him on the flea market when it first opened.
How I wish I had. I couldn't afford it but still wished I'd got it. What an investment it would have been.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Grimshaw for more information.
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13 comments:
Barry in Oz here, I would be interested to know what schools in Hyde he attended, he is of my era.
Trevor was my friend.... I still find it hard to think of him and the sad way in which he died...
I'd gone to an exhibition at his request and he asked which pictures I liked.. it was hard to pick one out from the many there.. but I said I liked a certain one.. two weeks later while sat in the Church Inn having a drink he give me some squares of paper.. each one had a word on it and when I read them it said... The picture you liked with the rails is yours.. happy birthday you ******* . I have many memories of Trevor and his house... he had work by many other artist.. his house was a mass of interest... he had old street signs from Hyde dotted around the house... and in the back yard he had the windows from the Brunswick Pub.. He showed me his studio one time I was round at his house... I remember as we went up the stairs he turned on the light... instead of a light bulb lighting the way an old Shell Oils Petrol Pump lit up at the top of the stairs.... he had another room which was mostly green if I recall rightly and from the light switch to the bulb was a flash of blue or yellow lightening painted across the wall and ceiling. There was a guitar on the wall which was also painted green and just blended into the wall.
I will never forget Trevor, and I think I'm right in saying that even though we only knew each other for a couple of years we got on very well...
To Trevor I was 'Mental Tommy' or as he'd sometimes call me a 'Rampton Reject'... I could not possibly put down here the names I called him.
I will get some pictures of Trevor's work and sort out another post when I can.. I might also tell a story or two on what we'd get up to tormenting each other..
Hi Tom, Your message about Trevor Grimshaw is a lovely tribute to him, it made me laugh as he sounded a real character, but I think I would have liked him! And his pictures are wonderful. Look forward to hearing about the stories of you both, your messages always make me laugh Tom. Kind regards Trish
We have quite a few of Trevor's pictures. I have loved his work since I first saw it. We have two with broken railings on, as well as some with trains, also some of his Northern landscapes.
Hi Trish...
He was as you say a character... Hyde as been blessed with many.. and I've proud to have known many of them..
Beryl.. The one he give me for my birthday was of some broken railings... I also did a swap with him for another... I give him two big chimney pots, and a Toucan Guinness Lamp.... plus lashings of beer for a picture of some cobbles in the moonlight... we both got very drunk that day in the Royal Albert which I was looking after. Alas Trevor dropped and smashed the Guinness Lamp on the way home... I never did get that second picture... but we had a few laughs out of it... and to have that memory is to me every bit as good as having one of his works hanging on my wall.
Sadly I never knew Trevor, but as a massive fan of his work and that of other Northern Artists, I have a few of his works in my own collection. I know many stories, picked up from friends of Trevors. Some of his work is featured on the excellent Northern Art page on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Northern-Art/201292349896314
He has inspired many artists, including Dave Hartley, who I see as Trevor's natural sucessor.
I am also the proud owner of Townscapes. It is a wonderful and rare book that features some incredible Grimshaws!
Hi Ant C.
I'm hoping to do a follow up on Trevor and his work... would you be will to take a photograph the pictures you have? or any information and send it to me to the blog email address.. hydonian@gmail.com
I'm hoping to get some photo's from a good friend of Trevor's and mine and if I can find it included part of a video we made of a drunken Sunday drive which Trevor came on... He was very much a one off was Trevor and I was so lucky in getting to know him a him.. we had some good laughs taking the micky out of each other.. I can see and hear him chuckling at me now. It dose not take much to set me off talking where Trevor and our friends are concerned.
Thank you for commenting and filling my head full of nice thoughts of a great man.
Trevor had many friends and I'm privileged to count myself as one of them. Here's a story you might not have heard. When they developed Hyde Market they put in a fountain water feature (common at the time). Early Saturday morning Trevor gave it a gallon or so of concentrated soap solution.
Bubbles blanked out the market area for hours. Loved to have been there....
PS I've been talking to Stockport Art Gallery about a possible exhibition of TG and his brother artists in 2013. You never know, it might come off!
The Original Visual Cripple (according to TG)
I knew Trevor very well, I worked with him in the ad agency and there isn't the room on this whole web site to list the things he got up to, most including copious amounts of alcohol. He was so talented and it was such a shame the way he died, I'd lost touch with him by then and only found out a few years after from another ex colleague. He was such fun but could also be a nightmare when the mood took him, but I'll never forget him. I went to one of his exhibitions in Hyde and he gave me a copy of the Singing Street, the book he illustrated for Mike Harding. Mike was there as well and they both signed the book for me, which I've still got. Happy days.
Janet
Hi Janet
He was a stunner, wasn't him... never to be forgotten that's for sure. Thank you for taking the time to comment... I had an email last week which hopefully will lead to more pictures and words... if you could scan the front cover of the book I could perhaps include it in another post.
He attended greenfield street primary school and then stockport art college
I can take photos of what I have and send them to you, I would love to see what u have already collected if you could contact me my e-mail is ceridgrimshaw@hotmail.com
Dennis
I think Trevor Grimshaw used to frequent the 'Round Table' coffee bar on Market Street in Hyde. I recall him painting a picture (similar to his later compilation works)and I seem to recall that it was of Stockport.
It was a great time in the mid sixties. He was always a cool dude as I recall.
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