New book about Oxenhope artist Joseph Pighills

The artist, from Marsh near Oxenhope, said: “I paint off my feelings and say summat about what’s going on - more about what’s going on (than) about the subject itself”... I need quietness. I have got to get myself into a sort of contemplative mood while painting. A landscape picture is either made or marred within half an hour of starting, and if it takes more than two hours it’s bound to be dead.”

Haworth Main Street by Joseph Pighills (Image: submitted)

Joe rarely ventured beyond his home area to paint: “Like Constable, if I moved away from the scenes familiar to me, I would fall down. I couldn’t paint. It’s something about mental images; something to do with inspiration. You have more chance of making a work of art by the combination of impulses, rather than by taking a visual photograph.”

After his art became successful Joe was continually visited at his home by people wanting to meet him and see his work. A regular at his local chapel, he didn’t allow praise to go to his head: “Pride comes before a fall. Some say it is one of the seven deadly sins. And anyway, what have I to be proud of? I have painted and I have loved it. It’s lucky other people like it too.”

The life and work of Joe Pighills is celebrated in a new book by Colin Neville - the latest in his Not Just Hockney series profiling artists from the past from the Bradford district.

Lower Town Oxenhope (Image: submitted)

“Art, faith, family: an inseparable trinity that gave meaning and purpose to the life of the largely self taught artist, Joseph (Joe) Pighills,” says Colin. “His landscape paintings captured the essence of the South Pennine moors where he lived - and this struck a chord with those who, like Joe, loved the wild beauty of the area. He painted landscape scenes - not just as an outlet for his artistic ability but because doing so was an expression of his spiritual beliefs.

“His Methodist faith underpinned everything he did. He knew that by the end of his life his paintings had resonated with art lovers across the Yorkshire region and elsewhere, but his faith kept his sense of earthly self-importance firmly in check.”

The Pighills family roots date back to the 14th century in the district. Says Colin: “Joe lived all his life in the same row of houses at Marsh, a hamlet above Oxenhope. His wife, Mary, was one of his most valued critics of his paintings and his son, John, an artist himself, became Joe’s carer in his final years.”

Joe was the first son of four children all born at Marsh Lane. He attended the Oxenhope Board (Mixed) School then the Trade School in Keighley, leaving aged 14 to be an apprentice pattern-maker for Alfred Horrocks in Bradford. It was here, making castings for the manufacture of machine parts, that he began to develop the attention to detail he later applied to painting.

Alfred Horrocks was an amateur artist. Spotting Joe’s drawing talent, he encouraged him to attend evening classes. Joe signed up for Keighley College and joined Keighley and Bradford Art Clubs, and studied the master artists.

There was no shortage of inspiration close to home; he often sketched local moorland and village scenes - he made notes and sketches at the scene, returning home to paint - and began to show his work at regional exhibitions.

Joe’s other main interest was cricket; he played for Haworth, but art was never far from his mind. He told Hewitt: “I used to be a fair bat and ah’d often get 50. But I remember the Captain saying ah’d should be getting on with job of getting runs instead of looking for that hit of green for me paintings!”

Joe worked in pattern-making through both world wars, as it was part of the war effort, and continued to paint. In the 1950s he drew the attention of Arthur Haigh - an art collector from Brighouse, who later in life donated over 150 paintings and sculpture to Cartwright Hall, including 12 paintings by Joseph Pighills. Haigh played an important part in promoting Joe’s artwork. His first solo show was at Cartwright Hall in 1954. His reputation soared in the 1960s and when he sold 50 pictures at galleries owned by Eric Busby, son of the founder of Busbys store in Bradford, he took retirement from pattern-making to become a full-time artist.

Oxenhope Moor (Image: Submitted)

By the 1970s visitors were arriving at Joe’s door to admire and buy his work, he’d spread his paintings over the floor of his sitting-room. At one exhibition, in 1978, 47 of his paintings were sold in the first 20 minutes. “There’s gold in them there Pighills,” wrote T&A arts critic Peter Holdsworth.

In 1985, the year after Joe’s death, a major exhibition of his work - over 100 watercolours, oils and mixed media works, including sketchbooks - was held at Cliffe Castle. Today his artwork is in collections around the world.

Colin's book explores the life of the local artist (Image: Submitted)

“Joseph Pighills, artist, was born and 82 years later would die at Marsh,” says Colin. “And, in accordance with his wishes, his ashes were scattered on the moors near his home.”

l All profits from sales of Faith and Art: The Life and Work of Joseph Pighills will go to the community-run Silsden Town Hall. For details of this and other books in the series go to notjusthockney.info