Yorkshire landscape by Gordon Clifford Barlow. Image: in a private collection.
Gordon Clifford Barlow (1913 – 2005) was born in the Bowling area of Bradford. He trained and worked as a self-employed sign-writer and decorator and lived and worked from addresses in Ilkley, with his wife, Mary.
However, parallel to his main source of income as a sign-writer/decorator, he also painted prolifically, mainly in oils, in his own time, and his artwork became popular to a point where he was able to work freelance as a professional oil painter.
As a number of his paintings included golfers and golf courses, he was included in the Dictionary of Sporting Artists 1650-1990, published by the Antique Collectors Club in 1992. However, most of his subjects were of landscape and village scenes, particularly along the Wharfe Valley in Yorkshire. He also painted still life subjects, as well as landscape scenes in Lancashire and Scotland, and village or landscape scenes abroad in France and Italy.
‘Afternoon Light, Grimaud, France’ . Image: in a private collection.
Gordon was tutored by the Ilkley artist, Herbert Royle, who lived nearby at the hamlet of Nessfield. Barlow’s approach to painting reflected that of Royle’s, particularly in his subject matter and effective use of colour and depiction of skies – but his overall style was more impressionistic than Royle.
As his work became popular, he sold his paintings at the Barlow Galleries – his home and studio – at 15 Wells Road, Ilkley.
Bluebells at Nessfield. Image: in a private collection.
Gordon Barlow’s artwork in his lifetime was widely exhibited in galleries and art shows in London and in the regions. His depictions of French village and landscape scenes were also shown at the Paris Salon. All of his paintings are now in private collections. He died at Lancaster aged 92.