Arts and Literature

Now fans have a chance to see his work at Gallery Oldham. They’ll also be able get an insight into his life through a new biography, which has been co-written by his daughter Mary. In it, she recalls him as a Lancastrian who had a strong affinity with his working class roots - as she explains:

Mary Major, Thedore Major's daughter

“What made him feel very proud was the courage and warmth of the suffering Lancashire people he saw around him.”

Theo was born in 1908 into humble beginnings in Wigan. Despite their poverty, his family supported his work as an artist.

“My father was often ill and missed schooling. Illness gave him the chance of solitude in a tiny yet crowded household of seven children and gave him the time to draw and paint.

“He always knew himself to be an artist and yet the rest of his family were not. He worked under the light of gas mantles on dark winter evenings in old ledger books provided by a relative.

Figure with Two Heads by Theodore Major

“Theo managed to take evening classes at Wigan Art School whilst working in a tailor’s shop during the day and eventually went full time. After being awarded prize for best student, he took up a teaching post at the school for a short period, where he met his wife Kathleen.”

Mary says her father was totally committed to his art. So much so that would lead him to reject the art world completely.

“He gradually came to see that the art world lacked his high ethical standards and was mainly interested in money.“

His principles didn’t only cause problems with his contemporaries. His view that the
role of the artist as “poet, visionary and prophet” didn't always fit with family life. Neither did his paintings.

“I remember him screaming at me when I was only 3 and managed to get to the garret room studio in Wigan. He worked in silence and never owned a telephone.

Two Men Walking by Theodore Major

“Theo didn’t mean any of his works to be entirely comfortable. Even his still lifes have menace at times. But to me, great art is always life-enhancing, no matter what its subject matter.

“Most of all, he wanted people to think for themselves. His series the ‘Crucifixion of Mankind’ warned against atomic warfare.”

With a bit of luck, the exhibition at the Gallery Oldham might finally give him the kind of recognition that Mary feel is “long overdue”

Theodore Major 1908 – 1999 is at Gallery Oldham from Saturday 9 February to Saturday 10 May. Entry is free. Mary Major will give a talk about her father’s work at the gallery on Tuesday 19 February.