This film is part of Free
Mining Review 25th Year No. 9
A painterly profile of County Durham's brilliant miner-artist Tom McGuinness.
Overview
An attractive portrait of County Durham painter and etcher Tom McGuinness (1926-2006) dominates this fine edition of the National Coal Board's news and magazine series. Of North East England's many talented miner-artists, McGuinness (from Witton Park, near Bishop Auckland) was arguably the most gifted of all. Mining Review here pays thoughtful tribute on the occasion of McGuiness' first major London show.
By the time of this film, Mining Review had spent 25 years exploring two overarching themes in UK coalmining: the technical and safety aspects, as in this edition's opening story about measures against methane, and its cultural and social dimensions, as in the McGuinness item. Though they probably wouldn't have described their work as art, the NCB's filmmakers no doubt felt a certain affinity for McGuinness' rendering of "texture and history" on canvas, paper and plate. On celluloid, they too engraved industrial images: below ground, the play of light against darkness and compositional elements like pit-props and conveyers, above it, close communities framed by steep terraces and towering pitheads. But unlike the Mining Review films, McGuinness' art was ultimately a personal statement - going beyond realism or even impressionism into the realms of expressionism.
Related
Figures in a Landscape Figures in a Landscape
Documentary 1953 17 mins Location: St Ives
A poetic portrait of sculptor Barbara Hepworth and the otherworldly Cornish landscapes which inspired her.
Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt
Documentary 1984 61 mins
Discover the 'name behind the hairstyle', in this essential portrait of the bard of Salford, aka John Cooper Clarke.
The Scandalous Parson The Scandalous Parson
Comedy 1967 27 mins Location: Belfast
Author of Gulliver's Travels faces trial by television
Dancers Dancers
1978 29 mins
Impressionistic portrait of life as a dancer in London’s Ballet Rambert.
Mona Lisa Mona Lisa
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1983 2 mins
Playful experimental film about one of the most famous, widely reproduced paintings in the world.
Photomontage Today: Peter Kennard Photomontage Today: Peter Kennard
Documentary 1983 35 mins
An analysis of the use of photomontage to distort meaning and create subversive and oppositional art, exemplified by the work of Peter Kennard.
Market Trends in the Year of Rising Prices Market Trends in the Year of Rising Prices
Amateur film 1969 8 mins Silent Location: Spitalfields
From Petticoat Lane to Portobello Road, London's street markets are always full of life.
Summer in Mayfair Summer in Mayfair
Travelogue 1957 26 mins Location: Mayfair
Colour travelogue promoting the cultural, commercial, fashionable and natural highlights of Mayfair in the sunshine.
Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion
Short documentary 2026 22 mins
Filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman and curator Matthew Barrington discuss Frederick Wiseman’s High School with Sandra Hebron.
Hard, Cracked the Wind Hard, Cracked the Wind
Horror 2019 17 mins
A haunting with words is the lure between life and death for a young Cornish poet.
A Last Resort A Last Resort
Comedy 2022 17 mins
Rose is desperate to celebrate her 60th birthday in style, but her daughter Genevieve is struggling to ignore some recent tragic news about her mum.
The Walk The Walk
Drama 2023 12 mins
Adeel Akhtar portrays a man on a weekly trek to his nearest JobCentre, entering a state of purgatory through barriers put in place by the system.
Seagull Seagull
Horror 2022 6 mins
Seagull is a recovering drug addict who is about to have a very strange night on The English Riviera.
Octopus Octopus
2021 13 mins
Upon returning to her home town for a funeral, a young woman reconnects with the friends she left behind.