Maurice Wade
Biography (mostly in MW´s own words)
Maurice Wade was born in 1917 in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, the ' mother ' town of the Staffordshire Potteries and the 'Bursley' of the Five Towns' novelist Arnold Bennett. He belongs to that particular generation whose life has been overshadowed by wars and depressions. He served in the Army during the Second World War from 1939–1946 and thereafter settled for a short time in London. On returning to his birthplace in 1951 he felt a growing compulsion to paint and found inspiration in the singular mood and shapes of the local landscape.
A number of his paintings include the Trent and Mersey Canal (near Longport) that in Wedgwood's time became the Potteries main life-line between Hull on the East coast and Liverpool on the West coast.
Besides his attempt to portray the particular character of the local scene, where the nineteenth century seems to have lingered longer than in most other industrial areas, the artist felt his work carried overtones concerned with the problems of mankind in the latter half of this twentieth century.
Maurice Wade received his formal training at the Burslem School of Art in Stoke on Trent College and while in London he also attended St Martin’s School of Art and Chelsea School of Art. He exhibited – for example – at The Royal Academy, Le Salon de la Société des Artistes Français in Paris, The Royal Society of British Artists, the Salford City Gallery, Stoke on Trent City Art Gallery and North Staffordshire (Keele) University.
Maurice Wade passed away in 1991.
The following three examples of Maurice Wade’s biography are taken from his notebook which was found and kindly provided by his daughter Yvonne. I hope that you will enjoy deciphering Maurice’s handwriting as much as I did.
Collection
I started to collect the paintings of Maurice Wade in May 2018 and Maurice Wade has been a part of my everyday life ever since. A little bit of obsession I would say. A nice one though. As the time went by, seeing multiple works by Maurice Wade and knowing a little bit more about his life, I became more and more convinced that an artist of his calibre deserved a book. Two years later the book is ready and it is going to be released to mark the opening of the major exhibition in The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke on Trent on October 12th 2024.
On top of that I can now share a part of my collection on Maurice Wade’s website – everything is ready. It makes me very happy.
My whole collection is published in the monograph Maurice Wade – A Painter from No57.
Oil on borad, 18 × 24 inches
Collection of Mr. Petr Hájek
Oil on board, 30 × 24 inches
Collection of Mr. Petr Hájek
Oil on board, 24 × 36 inches
Collection of Mr. Petr Hájek
Oil on board, 30 × 30 inches
Collection of Mr. Petr Hájek
Oil on board, 30 × 24 inches
Collection of Mr. Petr Hájek
Oil on board, 24 × 32 inches
Collection of Mr. Petr Hájek
— List of all works in the Collection
| ALLOTMENT GARDENS, LONGPORT No 2 / 1960 | Oil on board, 18 × 24 inches | |
| OLD LIME KILN / 1960 | Oil on board, 18 × 24 inches | |
| ALLOTMENT GARDENS, LONGPORT No 1 / 1960 | Oil on board, 18 × 24 inches | |
| MIDDLEPORT POTTERY / 1960 | Oil on board, 18 × 24 inches | |
| ST PAUL’S / 1960 | Oil on board, 30 × 24 inches | |
| HOUSES AT BARNFILEDS / 1961 | Oil on board, 24 × 36 inches | |
| POTTER’S PIG AND POULTRY CROFT (PETIT CLOS) / 1961 | Oil on board, 22 × 34 inches | |
| DISUSED UNLOADING QUAY / 1962 | Oil on board, 32 × 36 inches | |
| WESTPORT / WINTER / 1962 | Oil on board, 30 × 30 inches | |
| HUTS NEAR BURSLEM (HUTTES PRÈS DE BURSLEM) / 1964 | Oil on board, 36 × 36 inches | |
| YARD AT TRUBSHAWE / 1965 | Oil on board, 30 × 24 inches | |
| SHED AT RAVENSDALE / 1966 | Oil on board, 24 × 36 inches | |
| TRIO, BURSLEM STAFFORDSHIRE / 1969 | Oil on board, 30 × 24 inches | |
| ABANDONED QUARRY, BRADWELL / 1969 | Oil on board, 24 x 36 inches | |
| DERELICT BASIN TUNSTALL / 1971 | Oil on board, 24 × 32 inches | |
| OLD HALL MADELEY / 1978 | Oil on board, 22 × 30 inches | |
| TAPERED CHIMNEY, OLD OVEN, MIDDLEPORT / 1979 | Oil on board, 20 × 16 inches | |
| TOWER, KILN AND LITTLE RED HOUSE / 1979 | Oil on board, 25.75 × 25.5 inches | |
| STEPPED CHIMNEY, WESTPORT / 1979 | Oil on board, 15 × 12.5 inches | |
| HILL / cca late 70s, early 1980s | Oil on board, 24 × 32 inches | |
| BRIDGES OVER THE CANAL I / 1980s | Oil on board, 36 × 24 inches | |
| DUMP / 1982 | Oil on board, 24 × 32 inches | |
| GEORGE HEATH, ESQ / 1982 | Oil on board, 18 × 16 inches | |
| HEAD STONES, DALEHALL / 1985 | Oil on board, 32 × 24 inches | |
| MONSTER WOOD / 1987 | Oil on board, 24 × 36 inches | |
| ARNOLD BENNETT / cca late 1980s | Oil on board, 24 × 24 inches | |
| FORD GREEN HALL / cca 1991 (unfinished) | Oil on board, 22 × 22 inches |
News
19/11/2024
The posters across the city are working hard day and night. The exhibition has received a lot of praise so far, do not miss your opportunity to see it. Now with Maurice Wade - MY INSPIRATION, MY PERSPECTIVE film!
30/10/2024
The last editing of Maurice Wade – MY INSPIRATION, MY PERSPECTIVE – film has been completed. The premiere will take place at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery on 8th November. The film will be part of the exhibition afterwards.
17/10/2024
What a beautiful day to visit the exhibition again with a small stopover in Burslem - Old Town Hall - captured on Town Centre Lane / Burslem/ painting on page 233 in Maurice Wade monograph.
13/10/2024
The exhibition has finally opened. What a great birthday present. Well done the PMAG team!! Please see the official press release enclosed.
10/10/2024
The exhibition opening is just a few days away - work in progress. Do not miss it!
01/10/2024
Absolutely sensational photo with the hand drawn grid on, taken by MW in preparation for the future painting. A very rare footage of MW creative process. "Derelict Basin Tunstall" (p. 113 in Maurice Wade monoghraph) - the very first painting in my MW collection acquired from the Moioli Gallery in London.
29/09/2024
An exceptional piece of information about MW's life: a letter to his parents from Thursday 17th April 1941 when he was serving in the army in London.
13/09/2024
Only one month remaining to the exhibition opening. Looking forward to see the "twins" together.
05/09/2024
Two recently acquired pieces.
15/08/2024
In memory of Yvonne Jennings 18.5.1947-14.8.2024.
06/08/2024
Finally the load of 2.4 tonnes of books has arrived this morning, including 57 pieces of handbound special edition which comes in 5 colour varieties. I am very grateful to my friends. We have offloaded the truck and managed to store the books safely in just over an hour.
31/07/2024
A new piece acquired in to the collection.
25/06/2024
Very excited about a recent acquisition.
29/05/2024
In the Krupka’s bookbinders studio in Uvaly, just about 40 minutes drive from Prague, they are preparing their own dyes and paper for the special edition of the Maurice Wade monograph. The bibliophile handboud edition will be published in a run of 57 copies in 5 colour varieties.
09/05/2024
After more than a year of work, the monograph Maurice Wade – A painter from No57, was sent to the Finidr printing company in Cesky Tesin, Czech Republic .
January 2024
The exact dates for the exhibition are 12th October 2024 till 26th January 2025.
November 2023
A big sigh of relief and a lot of joy – the exhibition space for the major Maurice Wade exhibition has been secured!!!
The team of curators in The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke on Trent kindly took over the project and the exhibition is going to run from October 2024 till January 2025.
May 2023
First proposals for the monograph design are emerging together with the ideas how to capture Maurice Wade’s work in all its width and depth including the minuscule hence the most important details.
The search for a suitable exhibition space has started.
January 2021
I began to think about a Maurice Wade monograph to accompany a major retrospective exhibition.
March 2018
I have been made aware of Maurice Wade work – a love at first sight.
Links
Please find the following links with more interesting information about the work and life of Maurice Wade.
- The Middleport and Longport work of Maurice Wade The Spyders of Burslem
- 26 stunning images of Burslem from times gone by Stoke-on-Trent Live
- Exhibition catalogues Royal Academy of Arts
- Maurice Wade Art UK
- Andy McCluskey: Maurice Wade's evocative and tranquil landscapes Art UK
- Cool, calm and collected: the landscapes of Maurice Wade Art UK
- John Coulthart: The art of Maurice Wade, 1917–1991 { feuilleton }
- ‘Nobody can even find a photograph of him. He’s quite mysterious’ – OMD’s Andy McCluskey on Maurice Wade The Guardian
- Singing the praises of Maurice Wade BBC One - Midlands Today, Evening News
- Andy McCluskey: Maurice Wade paintings BBC Radio Stoke
- Maurice Wade - Painter of light and shade travels with my art
- Maurice Wade - Road through Sneyd Colliery travels with my art
- “Tower, Kiln and Little Red House, Hanley” by Maurice Wade travels with my art
- Maurice Wade and Bass & Co travels with my art
- Northern Art Facebook
- Exhibition A painfully beautiful vision without illusions Morning Star
- OMD singer champions unsung North Staffordshire artist in new exhibition Stoke-on-Trent Live
Exhibition
“Maurice Wade – A Painter from No 57” – the biggest exhibition of Maurice Wade’s work so far, with over 90 pieces exhibited, is going to be opened at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke Trent on October 12th 2024. The exhibition is going to run until 26th January 2025.
There will be paintings from both public and private collections on display and the exhibition is going to be accompanied by a number of special events.
- More information
- More information via British Art Network
- Artist Maurice Wade celebrated in rare city landscape exhibition via City of Stoke-on-Trent
- Maurice Wade – A Painter from No.57 via ART PLUGGED
- Exhibition celebrating local artist Maurice Wade at Potteries Museum via Babababoon
- Exploring Maurice Wade’s Melancholic Art at the Potteries Museum: A Painter from No 57 via travels with my art
- Over 90 paintings by Stoke-on-Trent artist Maurice Wade go on display for first time via Stoke-on-Trent Live
- Maurice Wade: how many is too many? via travels with my art
Book
An exceptional, large format – 30x30cm, 264 pages and 2.5kg weight – Maurice Wade monograph will be released to accompany the exhibition opening. There will be also an exclusive handbound special edition of 57 pieces of the monograph available.
There are 108 Maurice Wade’s paintings reproduced in this monograph from both public and private collections. It also includes many photographs from Maurice Wade’s family archive as well as pages from Maurice Wade’s Notebook. These photos and the excerpts from the Notebook have never been published before and the public would be able to see a photograph of the artist for the first time ever.
The book will be for sale throughout the “Maurice Wade – A Painter from No 57” exhibition and at the following places:
- Gladstone Pottery Museum
- TrentArt
- Barewall Art Gallery
- Kodudek Publishers
- The Art Studio
- The Brampton Museum
- You can also order your copy by email: mauricewade1917@gmail.com
Just printed:
