Eric Tucker (1932–2018) was an English painter and draughtsman. He is best known for his depictions of working class social life in industrial North West England. The media have often described Tucker as the "secret Lowry".[1]
He received no formal art education and left school at 14, working variously as a boxer, a steelworker, a gravedigger and a building labourer.[2] Unknown during his lifetime, he made very few attempts to sell or show his work. Few beyond close family were aware that he painted.[3] In his lifetime Tucker sold just two paintings.[4]
His work came to public attention following his death in 2018, when he left behind a hoard of more than 400 paintings, and thousands of drawings, in his house in Warrington.[5] Visitors queued around the block to see a two-day exhibition at Tucker's house.[6][7] Following this, a 2019 retrospective at Warrington Museum & Art Gallery, titled Eric Tucker: The Unseen Artist, attracted record numbers of visitors to the gallery.[8] In July 2021 two London art galleries Connaught Brown and Alon Zakaim exhibited 40 oils and watercolours.[4]
Tucker was influenced by artists including Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec and Edward Burra.[4]
Critics have compared Tucker to Edward Burra, L. S. Lowry, James Ensor, Julian Trevelyan and Eric Ravilious.[7][9] Art critic Ruth Millington described Tucker's work as a 'significant contribution to modern British art'.[3]
References
edit- ^ Reporters, Telegraph (23 November 2019). "On show at last: Eric Tucker, the Secret Lowry of Warrington". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ Retter, Emily (16 December 2019). "Lost paintings of shunned labourer on £3-a-week could now sell for millions". mirror. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ a b Reporters, Telegraph (23 November 2019). "On show at last: Eric Tucker, the Secret Lowry of Warrington". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ a b c Gascoigne, Laura. "The magical art of boxer, labourer & sometime gravedigger Eric Tucker | The Spectator". www.spectator.co.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "Eric Tucker: The hidden 'Lowry of Warrington' who spent decades painting in secret". Creative Boom. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ "'Unseen Artist' Eric Tucker Spent Decades Painting — But Nobody Knew". NPR.org. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ a b Youngs, Ian (23 November 2019). "The 'unseen' artist who is getting his final wish". BBC News. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ "Museum to open late to offer last chance to see Eric Tucker exhibition". Warrington Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ "Breathtaking collection of art found in builder's terraced house". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
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