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Macro Street


Guest Old Canny Street Kid

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Guest Old Canny Street Kid

Macro Sreet, which ran from Pitsmoor Road down to Woodside Lane, disappeared many years ago. This is a cutting from an old Sheffield Telegraph showing a painting of the bottom end of Macro Street. It was done by an artist called A. H. Taylor, and was exhibited at the Graves Art Gallery in 1960 or 1961. I have tried, so far in vain, to find something out about Taylor. It seems possible that at the time he did this painting he was studying in Sheffield, for the only reference I have found to him in art books adds "Charlotte,NC,USA" after his name. Can anyone throw any light onto this subject?

Doing a bit of painting myself (in a very amateurish way!), I have often tried to copy this picture, for it is very evocative of a particular time and place --I knew Macro Street in the early 1950s. It would be interesting to know what happened to the original Taylor painting.

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Macro Sreet, which ran from Pitsmoor Road down to Woodside Lane, disappeared many years ago. This is a cutting from an old Sheffield Telegraph showing a painting of the bottom end of Macro Street. It was done by an artist called A. H. Taylor, and was exhibited at the Graves Art Gallery in 1960 or 1961. I have tried, so far in vain, to find something out about Taylor. It seems possible that at the time he did this painting he was studying in Sheffield, for the only reference I have found to him in art books adds "Charlotte,NC,USA" after his name. Can anyone throw any light onto this subject?

Doing a bit of painting myself (in a very amateurish way!), I have often tried to copy this picture, for it is very evocative of a particular time and place --I knew Macro Street in the early 1950s. It would be interesting to know what happened to the original Taylor painting.

HI Oldcanny street kid, l remember Macro St in the early 40ties , on the painting ,there is an opening with a arched lintol, was that the passage way leading to some houses ? on the left ,in a yard, l worked on them for a couple of weeks, making temporary repairs after the blitz, l got on well with the daughter in the bot; house , but can't recall the name, this passage lead to Verdon st do you remember this ?Cheers Skeets

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Guest Old Canny Street Kid

HI Oldcanny street kid, l remember Macro St in the early 40ties , on the painting ,there is an opening with a arched lintol, was that the passage way leading to some houses ? on the left ,in a yard, l worked on them for a couple of weeks, making temporary repairs after the blitz, l got on well with the daughter in the bot; house , but can't recall the name, this passage lead to Verdon st do you remember this ?Cheers Skeets

The house you are referring to was 78 Macro Street, and in the 1940s and early 1950s it was a lodging house run by a woman known as Ma Easy (nee Brookes). Back in the 1930s (and for many years before) the house was a pub called the Wellington. There is quite a lot of info about this house and the family on Sheffield Forum under a thread Pub on Macro Street in the 1800s. If you follow this thread from the outset, it is very interesting, indeed quite fascinating. You might also find some references to 78 M St people like George Nelson on Sheffield indexers.

I remember the place very well, but the aim of my bringing it up here on Sheffield History was in the hope that I might find out something about the man A.H. Taylor, who did the painting of Macro Street. As I have said, I suspect he was an American who was then in his teens or early 20s and studying in Sheffield. I would love to know what happened to the original painting, and I thought that if Taylor did go on to make the grade in art, then his name might be in some reference book. As I think I have said, I have tried the Graves Art Gallery, where the painting was exhibited about 1960-61, but they have never responded.

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i own a large oil painting by A H Taylor of this part of Sheffiels painted in about 1960. entitled just "Sheffield" and priced £35. the label gives his address as being 80 Marguerite Drive, Leigh-on-Sea. i too would love to know more about this artist who is not mentioned in any of the Art books. the previous owner has died and I bought it from a Sale of his assets, among which was a John Bratby oil painting of Gloria painted in 1960, so he had good taste!

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i own a large oil painting by A H Taylor of this part of Sheffiels painted in about 1960. entitled just "Sheffield" and priced £35. the label gives his address as being 80 Marguerite Drive, Leigh-on-Sea. i too would love to know more about this artist who is not mentioned in any of the Art books. the previous owner has died and I bought it from a Sale of his assets, among which was a John Bratby oil painting of Gloria painted in 1960, so he had good taste!

A little bit about him on the Sheffield Forum

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/archive/in...p/t-428094.html

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I have now been to the Royal Academy Library and Arthur H Taylor exhibited 19 oil paintings there at the annual Summer Exhibition between 1953 and 1963, about 7 of which seem to have been of Sheffield. My painting was one of the 1962 Exhibits. However nothing of him since then.

Where did Old Canny Street Kid find the reference to him going to Charlotte, North Carolina ? His address from 1955 to 1963 was the Leigh-on-sea one I have mentioned (and for the 2 years before that one in Hampton, Middlesex). He must have been born around 1930, I would say.

It is most unusual for an artist who has had so many paintings accepted for exhibition by the RA not to be in all the many Art reference books which now exist.

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HI Oldcanny street kid, l remember Macro St in the early 40ties , on the painting ,there is an opening with a arched lintol, was that the passage way leading to some houses ? on the left ,in a yard, l worked on them for a couple of weeks, making temporary repairs after the blitz, l got on well with the daughter in the bot; house , but can't recall the name, this passage lead to Verdon st do you remember this ?Cheers Skeets

Skeets

Are you sure about the passage leading to Verdon St?

Verdon Street as I remember it ran off Fitzalan St about half a mile away.

Siren

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Guest Jane Martin

Interesting to find the above references to A H Taylor although they are a few years back.

We have recently acquired some paintings by him from the fifties and sixties and struggled to find much information but slowly leads are turning up.

He lived and painted in Leigh on sea, Essex from about 1954 until his death in '87.

Married to Valerie (nee Johnson), also a painter.

They both attended the Royal Academy painting school between 1950 and '54, so a good pedigree. Johna, above, mentions his works in the Summer Exhibitions at the RA.

Both Arthur and his wife, Valerie, who always painted under her maiden name of Johnson, became very successful exhibiting from Brighton to Edinburgh, including with Burlington Galleries and Redfern in London.  Their subjects are mostly landscapes, many in Derbyshire and especially Sheffield. We don't know the connection as yet. He was from West Ham ( b.1920 )and she, eight years younger, from Rochford, near Leigh in Essex. Valerie's works are very good, although somewhat dark in palette; street scenes in the Burngreave area (we suspect) are a cross between Lowry, Bernard Buffet and George Chapman in character. We have a set of large paintings in the steel works, lots of black and orange, which are quite stunning. We also have a brilliant domestic portrait of his wife in their 50's kitchen by Arthur which is so evocative of that time.

The twist to the story at present is that around 1964 they decided that they didn't want the exposure that the exhibitions brought, despite one canvas being priced at 60 gns, and withdrew to their bungalow in Leigh. We don't know what they did then. She attended life drawing classes in Southend Art College apparently and Arthur ripped up the floorboards in their lounge, cut out the joists and built a kiln!  He was also known to go into schools to help build kilns. But no sign of any painted work after the mid sixties.

We hope someone finds this of interest and we continue to search for more information.

Jane and John

 

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Guest Jane Martin

Old canny street kid, if you are still looking, we have just found the original  A H Taylor oil painting of Macro Street, Sheffield as shown in your cutting.

Also one of Marcus Passage, Sheffield and others of the Canal, the Weir and a railway line...maybe Macro St again.

J J

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