Artist Spotlight : Jack Simcock (1929-2012)

Our Artist Spotlight this time celebrates Jack Simcock (1929-2012), the Potteries painter whose bleak, beautiful oils of the Mow Cop landscape made him one of North Staffordshire's most distinctive artistic voices.

Born to a mining family in Biddulph, Staffordshire, Jack studied at Burslem School of Art. He is best known for his long series of sombre oils on board depicting the Mow Cop area where he lived for much of his life. Writing in The Sentinel in 1963, Reginald Haggar praised the "richness of colour that underlies the seemingly black and white effects, glints of terracotta and old gold through steely grey".

Encouraged by Arthur Berry, Jack began exhibiting at London's Piccadilly Gallery in 1957 and went on to hold more than fifty solo exhibitions worldwide, with his paintings now held in public collections across the UK. Alongside painting, in 1975 he published his autobiography, Simcock, Mow Cop, and a book of poetry, Midnight Till Three.

Jack died in 2012, on the eve of the opening of The Boys, an exhibition at Keele University of his paintings alongside those of his fellow Burslem School of Art alumni, Enos Lovatt and Arthur Berry.

Record Prices at Auction

Barewall has worked with Jack's family since 2012, selling his oils and drawings from the gallery. In November 2023 we hosted a four-day viewing of ten previously unseen paintings ahead of their auction with Potteries Auctions, where they achieved record prices, including £3,500 plus auction fees for a mid-size oil. We were delighted to see auction prices for Jack's work catching up with gallery prices, a wonderful sign for the North Staffordshire art market.

Collect Jack Simcock at Barewall

We are proud to bring Jack's work to collectors through the gallery. View our Jack Simcock collection, including original oils and his 1975 book of poetry, Midnight Till Three.

Currently at the Gallery

A selection of Jack Simcock works available now at Barewall. Click any image to view the piece.