‘Twelve months ago I had no particular interest in art. Today, Art Appreciation is an essential thrill of my life.’

Son of a painter and decorator, First World War veteran Harry Wilson trained as a dental mechanic in Newcastle before moving to Ashington in 1926. With no links to the community, he enrolled in the local branch of the Workers Educational Association (WEA) to make connections and find new hobbies outside of work. Within a year he was elected to its committee and over the next decade he became a highly involved member who did much to promote the organisation in Ashington, despite often having to contend with poor funds, low membership, and political antagonism from outside parties.

In 1934, Wilson was president of the WEA and, in an effort to bring in new members, he and the rest of the committee organised three new courses that year: Art Appreciation, Music Appreciation, and Philosophy. He himself attended the Art Appreciation course, which proved to be an unprecedented success, and despite having little prior interest in art, he became an accomplished painter and sculptor under Robert Lyon’s tutelage. Wilson never worked at the collieries; his paintings focused more on highlighting social issues that he witnessed in North Seaton during his door-to-door work as an insurance salesman, a job that he took in part because it provided him greater inspiration for his art than his previous employment in a dental office. During the Second World War, he distributed identity cards for the National Registry (as depicted in his painting Registration) and served as a Captain in the Home Guard.

After George Brown’s death in 1963, Wilson inherited presidency of the Group and rekindled the educational spirit of their WEA years by organising evening art classes at the Ashington Technical College. Wilson retired from a thirty-year career in insurance in 1968, allowing him to dedicate more time to Group activities. He was also able to enjoy the resurgence of national interest in their work, appearing prominently in the BBC documentary Pigeons and Paint which was produced just before his death at the age of seventy-four.

Text from Museums Northumberland website

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Wallington Hall, Northumberland
Material: Oil on board
Artist: Harry Parkinson Wilson (1898 – 1972)
Date: unknown

Image Details
Date: 10 September 2023
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/33s
ISO: 400
Licensing: Image of a North East Museums asset. © The Ashington Group Trustees. This image cannot be licensed.