£1 MILLION LEGACY OF 'UNKNOWN ARTIST' DISCOVERED

IT NEVER LOOKED LIKE MUCH FROM THE OUTSIDE, A GRIMY, RUN-DOWN STONE-TERRACE HOUSE WITH TRAFFIC FLOWING PAST THE DOORSTEP. BUT WHEN DAVE PEARSON PULLED THE DOOR SHUT BEHIND HIM, HE LOCKED HIMSELF AWAY INTO A STUNNING WORLD OF HIS IMAGINATION. VIRTUALLY EVERY DAY FOR ALL HIS ADULT LIFE, HE TRANSFORMED HIS THOUGHTS AND INSPIRATIONS INTO PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, SCULPTURE AND ARTWORK. FEW WERE ABLE TO APPRECIATE THE EXTENT OF HIS WORK, WHICH HE SELDOM SOLD OR EXHIBITED. BUT WHEN HE DIED AT THE AGE OF 70, AN ASTONISHING LEGACY WAS REVEALED. FOR BEHIND THE ANONYMOUS WHITE DOOR IN MANCHESTER ROAD, HASLINGDEN, LAY AN UNSEEN TREASURE TROVE OF ART. PAINTINGS SPILLED OUT FROM EVERY ROOM INTO HALLWAYS, STAIRWELLS AND CORRIDORS. ONE ROOM HAD BEEN CONVERTED AT ONE STAGE INTO A LARGER THAN LIFE RECREATION OF 'BEDROOM' BY VAN GOGH, THE ARTIST WHOSE WORK INSPIRED PEARSON TO A LIFETIME OF PROLIFIC CREATIVITY. NOW THE HOUSE, ON A MAIN ROAD NEAR ACCRINGTON, LANCASHIRE, IS BEING PRESERVED AS A TRIBUTE TO HIS TALENT AND A SHOWCASE FOR HIS WORK. A TRUST HAS BEEN SET UP TO BUY THE HOUSE AND ALLOW A WIDER AUDIENCE TO SEE HIS PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES THERE. PERHAPS A BRITISH ARTIST CALLED DAVE LACKS SOME OF THE ALLURE OF MICHELANGELO OR LEONARDO, BUT EXPERTS BELIEVE THE COLLECTION COULD EASILY BE WORTH MORE MORE THAN £1 MILLION, ABOUT 15 TIMES THE VALUE OF THE HOUSE.



PEARSON WAS A QUITE, RATHER MODEST MAN AND HE DIDN'T TALK MUCH ABOUT HIS CREATIONS. BEHIND CLOSED DOORS HE WOULD SOMETIMES SURVIVE FOR WEEKS ON LEMONADE AND BISCUITS. YET IT WAS THIS INTENSITY AND ECCENTRICITY THAT INFORMED MUCH OF HIS WORK, PRODUCED IN ANY MEDIUM THAT CAME TO HAND. ONE DAY HE MIGHT START ON A MINUTELY DETAILED PAINTING THAT WOULD COVER EVERY INCH OF A WALL AND PART OF THE CEILING. ANOTHER DAY, HE WOULD CREATE A TINY, INTIMATE SCULPTURE FROM PAPIER MACHE. HE WOULD, OF COURSE, HAVE WELCOMED WIDER APPRECIATION IN HIS LIFETIME, BUT BECAUSE HE PREFERRED TO SPEND EVERY SPARE MINUTE PRODUCING ART RATHER THAN PROMOTING IT, HE ATTRACTED ONLY A SMALL FOLLOWING FOR SOMEONE ONCE DESCRIBED BY AN ADMIRER AS 'ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S MOST EXCITING NEW ARTISTS'. WHEN HE SUCCUMBED TO CANCER TWO YEARS AGO, MOST OF HIS CREATIONS HAD NEVER BEEN SEEN OUTSIDE THE CHAOS OF HIS STUDIO HOME. NOW THE HASLINGDEN MID-TERRACE IS SET TO BECOME A LANDMARK IN THE LIFE OF DAVE, IN MUCH THE SAME WAS A HOUSE IN ARLES DID FOR VINCENT VAN GOGH.