A new gallery dedicated to renowned artist Harry Rutherford has opened its doors to the public showcasing works that span his entire career.
The Rutherford Gallery, which has become a permanent fixture to Hyde Library in Tameside, Greater Manchester, celebrates the life of the 20th Century internationally acclaimed artist.
His work is divided into distinguished areas, allowing visitors to wander through sections of his life. Categories include his early interests in magazines and newspapers, self-portraits, education, local scenes and his television career.
Contextualising the artist is an installation piece accessible in the centre of the gallery. Comprised of his own personal belongings including easels, hats, paint-palettes, books, photographs and brushes, the area provides a real insight into his practice and his studio space.
Further works will be added to the gallery on a six-month-cycle including more of his portraits and images from his time abroad in Spain, Borneo and Pakistan.
Curator Marie Knudsen said: “There is a real sense of pride. He was a popular local person and an internationally famous artist – we really wanted the gallery to happen.”
“He put Hyde on the map. We want people to know that he was a significant person in the neighbourhood.”
Often identified as one of the unsung heroes of the Lowry generation, Rutherford was born in Denton in 1903 and worked initially as a draughtsman.
On finishing school, he trained with the eminent artist Walter Sickert at the Manchester School of Art and became a contemporary of LS Lowry.
He worked as a topical cartoonist for the Manchester Evening News and eventually moved to London to work as a freelance artist and illustrator on Fleet Street for many magazines.
He was finally introduced to the world of television in 1936 while working on a cover for the magazine ‘The Listener’.
Highly impressed with his works, a BBC producer employed him to stand in the studio wings for the programme ‘Cabaret Cartoons’ drawing variety acts as they performed.
Following the Second World War, he hosted his own children’s television show ‘Sketchbook’, where he pioneered art, live on television, long before artists such as Rolf Harris or Tony Hart made their screen debuts.
Rutherford travelled extensively throughout his life – to Spain in the 1930s and through Europe to Borneo in the 1950s as a guest of the British Council. However, true to his roots, he remained loyal to his local community and found a niche in Hyde.
He returned to Hyde in the 1950s and worked as a teacher at the Regional College of Art in Manchester until his retirement in 1969. It was during those years when he was elected president of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts – a post he held for eight years.
Rutherford retained his studio in Nelson Street next to the house he kept with his brother Donald, and he could often be seen eating breakfast in the local hotel or having a drink at the local pub.
Two plaques commemorating the artist already feature in Hyde. One is on Hyde Town Hall while the other resides on his home in Nelson Street.
