Perspectives: Robson Green and the Pitmen Painters, ITV1 | reviews, news & interviews
Perspectives: Robson Green and the Pitmen Painters, ITV1
Perspectives: Robson Green and the Pitmen Painters, ITV1
Miner's son revisits Ashington's colliery artists
Sunday, 08 May 2011
Robson Green contemplates the legacy of the Northumbrian mining industry
The story of the Pitmen Painters, a group of Northumbrian miners who decided to study art appreciation in their spare time and developed into a group of untrained but powerfully expressive artists, has been documented in a book by William Feaver and a play by Lee Hall. Robson Green's particular interest in the story stems from the fact that he's a miner's son, brought up in Dudley, a few miles south of the pitmen's hometown of Ashington.
The story of the Pitmen Painters, a group of Northumbrian miners who decided to study art appreciation in their spare time and developed into a group of untrained but powerfully expressive artists, has been documented in a book by William Feaver and a play by Lee Hall. Robson Green's particular interest in the story stems from the fact that he's a miner's son, brought up in Dudley, a few miles south of the pitmen's hometown of Ashington.
Considering these men had left school at 12 to go straight down the pit, and had never known a life outside Ashington, it suggested something almost mystical about art and creativity
Share this article
Add comment
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more TV
Joan, ITV1 review - the roller-coaster career of a 1980s jewel thief
Brilliant performance by Sophie Turner as 'The Godmother'
The Penguin, Sky Atlantic review - power, corruption, lies and prosthetics
Colin Farrell makes a beast of himself in Batman spin-off
A Very Royal Scandal, Prime Video review - a fairly sound reimagining, but to what end?
The acting is first-rate, but it has no satisfying dramatic goal
Nightsleeper, BBC One review - strangers on a runaway train
Six-part thriller goes off the rails
The Perfect Couple, Netflix review - an inconvenient death ruins lavish Nantucket wedding
Liev Schreiber steals the show in adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand's novel
Sambre: Anatomy of a Crime, BBC Four review - satisfying novelistic retelling of a French true crime saga
Compelling story of a rapist who hid in plain sight for 30 years
Kaos, Netflix review - playing fast and profuse with the Greek myths
A rainbow of acting talent, but too many ideas thrown into the labyrinth
Slow Horses, Season 4, Apple TV+ review - Gary Oldman returns as the 'gross and inappropriate' Jackson Lamb
Latest instalment of the Slough House saga exerts a vice-like grip
theartsdesk Q&A: David Morrissey on (among other things) the return of 'Sherwood' and 'Daddy Issues'
Liverpool-born actor reflects on a journey from Everyman Theatre to film and TV stardom
Sherwood, Series 2, BBC One review - maybe time isn't such a great healer
Gripping continuation of James Graham's Nottinghamshire saga
Freddie Flintoff: Field of Dreams on Tour, BBC One review - a passage to India with the Preston irregulars
Cricket helps Fred overcome near-death experience
The Instigators, Apple TV+ review - Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are back on the Beantown beat
Doug Liman's black-comedy thriller is lifted by its high-octane cast
Comments
...