Celebrating the Lost Vision of Marshall Forster Atkinson: North East Artist’s Work to Be Showcased to the Public
Neville Atkinson — known to many as Nev Luxury from the band Punishment Luxury — is embarking on a deeply personal project to honour the life and legacy of his late father, Marshall Forster Atkinson, an extraordinary yet largely unsung North East artist whose work captured the soul of the region across the mid-20th century.
Neville grew up in Gateshead, absorbing the streets, the people and the industrial heart of the North East directly from his father’s art and his surroundings. Today he lives in Hampshire — but the connection to his roots remains strong. His sister, Yvonne, continues to live in Burnopfield, maintaining the family’s ties to the region.
Marshall Atkinson (1913–c.1990) grew up in the poverty-stricken streets of Gateshead before developing a remarkable artistic talent. Encouraged from a young age by his mother, who famously turned their attic into an art studio, Marshall went on to produce an extensive body of work depicting the industrial and social landscapes of the North East from the late 1940s through to the 1960s.
Despite his clear ability and a portfolio that saw him exhibit in prestigious venues such as the Royal Glasgow Institute, Liverpool, the Redfern Gallery, and even the Paris Salon, Atkinson refused commercialisation. Driven by a passionate, people-centred ideology, he saw his art as belonging to the community rather than the marketplace. He worked in local factories and bakeries by day, painting by night — often producing powerful nocturnes of shipyards, back lanes, industrial skylines and candid snapshots of everyday life.
Among his most compelling works is a striking wartime scene overlooking the Tyne Bridge during World War II, capturing floodlit skies, barrage balloons and the atmosphere of a city under threat. Another features the back lanes of Vine Street in Gateshead — a place many would have found bleak, but which Atkinson rendered with humanity, mystery and profound beauty.
“He saw the power and beauty in things most people walked past,” Neville says. “To him, people’s lives were the heart of everything — beyond class or status. His ego wasn’t in ambition. It was in the art.”
Now, Neville and his family believe the time has come for Marshall’s work to be rediscovered.
Most of Marshall Atkinson’s paintings remain in family hands, but others are known to be in private collections across the region. Neville is now calling on anyone who owns or recognises his father’s work to come forward.
“We want people to see these pictures and decide for themselves what they mean — whether they spark memories or show the North East in a new light,” Neville says. “If anyone has one of his paintings, we’d be grateful for a photograph. We’re putting together a compendium of his work and hope this will lead to a dedicated website and eventually a book.”
If you own a painting by Marshall Forster Atkinson, or believe you may have one, please send a photograph and any known details to:
requests@radioNorthumberland.com
All contributions will be acknowledged as Neville and his family work to compile the most complete record of Atkinson’s art to date.