Diana asks if anybody can identify the artist, or maybe even the couple, in this painting of a very recognisable corner of the Market Place. It is the corner where the phone boxes were removed last week! Diana picked it up in a charity shop in town recently and says “sadly this is just a reproduction that has been trimmed to fit it into the frame so no signature or other identifier.” She is curious to know if it was by a local artist. She has checked with the museum but they have drawn a blank.
Here is what the telephone boxes looked like.
According to the Guardian “At their peak there were 92,000 payphones across the UK, and queues in the street were a familiar sight at the busiest ones.“. In 2019 they are almost obsolete.
Ah – can help you there Diana as I have the original!
It was painted by a close family friend called John Barber – “Johnny” was also an illustrator as well as a keen painter of all things Abingdon, indeed many of his paintings have gone to print, one in particularly I remember is of St Helens Wharf,
For peace and quite Johnny lived and worked in a caravan on the Mattock roses site at the top of lodge hill.
Hello, I have a number of John Barber original paintings and would like to know if his work was cataloged to show all his works and those from which prints were taken. I would be interested in obtaining more of his work should it become available. Hoping someone might help.
Hi, I have 3 of his paintings. One was given to me by my great aunt many years ago as she knew John very well. The other 2 were sold as part of a house clearance in abingdon 2 years ago. One of them I would like to rehome as the picture appears to be a oil painted scene of the bridge but almost a copy of a William Havell painting from 1811.
Keith
I have a John Barber painting of Sunset at Lyme Regis. I was doing some research prior to putting it on eBay and came across your entry on Abingdon Blog expressing interest in acquiring more of John Barber’s work.
The painting is 20*40 inches on chipboard, either oil or acrylic ( I cannot tell as I am not familiar with either). The work is in good condition but has one or two very minor chips on the edges.
If you are interested please contact me. I live in north Abingdon where the painting can be seen.
Nice picture.
Thank you very much for finding time to post this. I am very happy to hear about the artist from Horsesmouth. Please pass on my thanks.
Best wishes
Diana
As a boy scout 2p and 10p were part of the uniform, carried in the pocket, just in case you had to make an emergency phone call.
I wonder if a mobile with credit on it is part of the uniform today?
googling ‘john barber abingdon artist’ will many of his paintings