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'Check your collection for my dad's artwork'

Pamela TickellNorth East and Cumbria
News imageHighlightsPR Neville Atkinson, who has short grey hair and is wearing a dark green jumper, is holding up two small pieces of artwork. One, on the left, is a black and white depiction of some back alleys. On the right, red brick houses are depicted under a layer of snow. Mr Atkinson is slightly smiling at the camera as he stands in front of a cottage with a stone wall.HighlightsPR
Neville Atkinson said his father had an "inside view" of North East England in the mid-20th Century

A family has asked anyone who owns or recognises their father's artwork to take a picture and send it to them.

Marshall Forster Atkinson was a labourer and baker who grew up in Gateshead, but by night he created works depicting shipyards, back lanes, industrial skylines and candid snapshots of everyday life in the north-east of England between the 1940s and 1960s.

His children, Neville Atkinson and Yvonne Armstrong, want to find works that were sold locally and are signed with his initials "MFA", with the aim of compiling a public website and eventually a book.

Mr Atkinson, 73, said his father was a proud Geordie artist, adding: "What people saw as bleak, he saw them as beautiful."

Marshall Forster Atkinson was born in 1913 and died in 1990.

His son said: "He had an inside view of the strains, the hassles, the pressures, the difficulties, but he had hope."

News imageMarshall Forster Atkinson A painting of rows of red-bricked houses with lines of washing hung between them. A woman in the corner is reaching up to a piece of fabric. There are swirling patterns in the sky, depicting smoke. In the background, a church has a St George's flag on it.Marshall Forster Atkinson
"Washing Day in Gateshead" was a view from Mr Atkinson's home in 1953

The artist's wife Betty named one of his paintings "Washing day in Gateshead".

His son said it was the view of their back lane on to Dunsmere Grove which has since been knocked down.

"I love it because it's personal to me, but also I think it's a great composition," Mr Atkinson said.

His father also worked for the fire service during the war and painted a Tommy overlooking the River Tyne as searchlights illuminated barrage balloons in the sky.

News imageMarshall Forster Atkinson A black and white piece of art of a World War Two scene. A soldier is standing on a bridge and looking down at the River Tyne bordered by buildings. Search lights and smoke are depicted in the night sky.Marshall Forster Atkinson
"Tommy on the Bridge" depicted a night raid during the war

Mr Atkinson, who is in the rock band Punishment of Luxury, said: "I remember waking up in the morning to the smell of paint.

"Later in the week I would help him carry the framed pictures to hang on the railings of Saltwell Park for Saturday exhibitions."

His father went on to exhibit across the country including at the Royal Glasgow Institute and the Redfern Gallery in London.

News imageFamily photo A black and white photograph of Marshall Forster Atkinson who has short white hair and is wearing an open shirt over a turtleneck jumper. He is surrounded by pictures.Family photo
Marshall Forster Atkinson was a labourer and baker in Gateshead by day

Most of his paintings remain in family hands, but others are known to be in private collections across the region.

"If anyone has one of his paintings, we'd be grateful for a photograph," Mr Atkinson said.

"I think his stuff should be celebrated."

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