Hall for Cornwall, Truro, Monday to Saturday
The fascinating story of a group of Northumberland miners who, inspired by an art appreciation class, become artists, is told in Lee Hall's The Pitmen Painters.
Lee – writer of Billy Elliot, Spoonface Steinberg and adapter of War Horse for the big screen – was captivated by this moving story rooted in the area where he grew up. In 1934, a group of Ashington miners hired a professor to teach an art appreciation class. Rapidly abandoning theory in favour of practice, the pitmen began to paint. Within a few years the most avant-garde artists became their friends and their work was acquired by prestigious collections; but every day they still worked down the mine. The Pitmen Painters is a marvellous marriage of art, class and politics told with great affection and humour.
