Late artist’s work to be auctioned
Money raised will help to fund mental health projects
Update from the Globe Gallery: The auction originally scheduled for Wednesday, April 16 has been rescheduled until late June (precise date to be announced)
The chance arises this month to acquire a painting by a talented artist whose career was cut short – and in so doing support health and wellbeing projects at a North East gallery.
Rashida Davison, who founded the Globe Gallery in North Shields, has championed the work of the late Stephen McGinty since being approached by his brother, Graham, who had been alerted to work she’d done to raise awareness of mental health issues.
Stephen struggled with his own mental health and abandoned his fine art studies at Newcastle University after two years when he became too ill to proceed.
He grew up on Teesside, one of four siblings, and was an accomplished artist, poet, musician and sportsman, despite being diagnosed with schizophrenia when still in his teens.
After leaving university he spent periods in hospital but got his life back on track and completed a fine art degree in Sunderland in 1984, going on to earn a master’s degree in Manchester four years later.
He remained in that city but struggled increasingly with his health and died after being admitted to hospital following a severe reaction to long-term medication. That was in 2016 when he was 56.
Having been approached by Graham and other family members, keen to find a home for the paintings Stephen had left behind, Rashida mounted an exhibition in 2023 which was augmented by readings of his poems.
One old friend who saw the work was Andrew Burton, professor of fine art at Newcastle University.
They had been first-year students together in 1979, Andrew fondly remembering an “exuberant, highly intelligent and thoughtful” young man given to occasional periods of introspection.
Having lost contact with Stephen, he was pleasantly surprised to be confronted with “an amazingly impressive body of work”.
More of this work, mostly abstracts but with still life paintings among them, is currently on display at the Globe Gallery in an exhibition due to end on April 16.
The climax on that day will be an auction, with auctioneer Bertie Forster selling off some of the paintings to the highest bidder and proceeds going to fund the work Globe Gallery does in the field of mental health.
You can visit the gallery to place a sealed bid at any time during opening hours (Thursday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm; Sunday, 12 noon to 4pm).
But on Wednesday, April 9 (5.30pm to 7.30pm) there’s a preview event at the gallery, 97 Howard Street, where you can hear about Stephen and the work of Globe Gallery and also look at the pictures offered for sale.
To confirm attendance at the event you are asked to email rashida@globegallery.org