Art fan buys painting by Newlyn school artist Leghe Suthers in coup for Gallery Oldham

An expert on the Newlyn alliance of famous 19th century Cornish painters has given Gallery Oldham one of their "most significant Victorian paintings in years" after establishing a link between one of the group’s members and the Lancashire town.

George Bednar discovered artist Leghe Suthers had actually been christened John Lee Suthers when he was born in the Chadderton area of Oldham in April 1955. He was the cousin of textile magnate Charles Lees, who left the Borough its founding collection of paintings.

"The words Lees and Leghes have the same ancient Lancastrian landscape meaning,” explained the art fan, who bought Suthers' The Broken Pot and donated it to the gallery.

"I became certain of the link between John Lees Suthers and Leghe Suthers in early 1999 while researching Every Corner was a Picture, my compilation of the artists of the Newlyn Art Colony between 1880 and 1900.
 
"When I was told that Suthers was not represented at Gallery Oldham, I was determined to fill that gap.
 
"A bednarz is a cooper in Polish, the nationality of my parents. I wanted to donate The Broken Pot because it includes a barrel, a further link between my name and the picture."

Suthers found fame at the other end of the country, sending paintings to the Royal Academy and other big-name venues after joining a colony of artists in Newlyn in the 1880s.

The gallery already hosts a strong collection of paintings by the school, including The Drinking Place, a Stanhope Forbes pieces which is going on loan to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam later this year.

"The artwork was painted by one of our own famous sons and it is great to be able to display it in the borough where he came from," said Councillor Kay Knox, Oldham’s Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture, Heritage and Tourism Services.

"It is an outstanding painting and I hope residents will visit Gallery Oldham so they can see it for themselves."