Throughout the Industrial Revolution, very few professional artists painted scenes of industry without having a political slant. It took until the beginning of the 20th century for men working in these environments to accurately portray the work involved.
During the 1930s, some of the members of the Ashington Art Group started to paint pictures of coal mining; an industry with which they were familiar.
This painting is by Oliver Kilbourn who during his working life had been an underground worker at Ashington, Ellington and Woodhorn Colliery. The scene shows workers known as Drawers, removing the pit props and roof supports from a coal face after the coal had been removed.
The Ashington Group paintings were of inspiration to North East playwright, Lee Hall. His Pitman Painters production has played in London and on Broadway in recent years.
Painting by Oliver Kilbourn (1904-1993)
On display at Woodhorn Museum and Northumberland Archives
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