Theodore Major

Theodore Major wrested poetry from the grim drabness of the industrial north and his paintings glow with a mystical light. He was born in Wigan, Lancashire, the son of cotton mill workers and he gained an art education by dint of sheer determination. By the time he was middle-aged, his outstanding ability had been recognised by the Arts Council and critics of the calibre of John Berger and Mervyn Levy. But despite a growing reputation, Major lived as a recluse in a cottage near Wigan, painting into his late eighties and rarely agreeing to sell his work. This book by his daughter Mary and acclaimed biographer June Rose reveals an intimate portrait of the artist and the man.