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1958

Receives a second commission to design a banner for Tudhoe Mill Drift, which is commissioned at Spennymoor Town Hall on July 18“ by Hugh Gaitskell, leader of the Labour Party.
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1956

Participates in a group exhibition on the theme of Industrial Britain at the Chenil Gallery, Chelsea, London. Son, John Cornish born 5 December. 1957 Designs a banner for Westerton Lodge drift mine, which is unfurled at Spennymoor Town Hall on 19“ July by Anthony Greenwood, Member of Parliament for Rossendale Division of Lancashire.
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1954

Travels to London en route to Romania as part of a cultural delegation, but decides to cancel the trip and return to Spennymoor. Participates in the 6th Annual Federation of Northern Art Societies. His Self- Portrait is purchased for the Shipley Art Gallery's Collection.
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1953

Moves to Bishop's Close Street, Spennymoor. Working at the coal face one day he is asked to go to the nearest telephone 300 yards away. Asked to paint the portrait of the Chairman of the Durham District Coal Board. Invited to a weekend conference with John Minton.
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1952

Exhibits the painting ‘The Fish Shop’ in the exhibition ‘Contemporary Artists of County Durham’ at the Shipley Art Gallery Gateshead, as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations. Participates in the Spennymoor Sketching Club‘s group exhibition at The Crow's Nest Hotel, Haymarket, Newcastle upon Tyne. His painting, ‘The Three Beers’, is mentioned by Ivan Geffen in the Evening Chronicle review of 16th January. Geffen subsequently purchases the painting, which he describes as “the best painting by an amateur artist he has ever seen.’ Exhibition, The Mirror and The Square - Realism to Abstraction, New Burlington Galleries, London: Including L.S. Lowry, Stanley Spencer, Wyndham Lewis, Victor Pasmore, Ben Nicholson, Graham Sutherland, Fred Uhlman, Norman Cornish.
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1951

Participates in the exhibition ‘Northern Realists: Realism in Contemporary Art’, at Tullie House, Carlisle, which includes paintings by L.S. Lowry and Victor Pasmore. Winifred Nicholson opens the exhibition. Attends a CAMDIN (Council for the Encouragement of Art, Music and Drama in Northumberland) weekend course at Wallington, Northumberland as a guest tutor with John Minton and Harry Thubron. Meets Ted Harrison who becomes a life-long friend.
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1950

Exhibits eight paintings in the 17th Annual Spennymoor Settlement Sketching Club exhibition at Annfield Plain Library. Participates in ‘The Coalminers’ exhibition at the Artists‘ International Association Gallery, Lisle Street, Leicester Square, London, which includes work by Henry Moore. Is a guest of Fred and Diana Uhlman whilst he is in London.
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1948

‘Art by the Miner’, including eighteen paintings from the Spennymoor Sketching Club, travels to the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne. Buys 24 Catherine Street, Spennymoor, from his maternal grandmother. 1949 Daughter Ann Cornish is born, 17 October. Wins a drawing prize at the ‘Federation of Northern Art Societies’ Annual Conference,’ North Shields.
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1947

Exhibits seven paintings in the exhibition ‘Art by the Miner’ (which he also hangs) at the Academy Cinema, Oxford Street, London. The event was part of a broader exhibition covering all aspects of mining titled ‘The Miner Comes to Town’ opened by the Prime Minister, Clement Attlee. Discovers the ‘Flo-master pen’ in a Reeves art shop in Camden Town. Guest appearance on the BBC‘s programme ‘Picture Page’, broadcast live from Alexandra Palace Studios, North London. First TV appearance.
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1946

First one-man exhibition at the ‘Green Room’, the People's Theatre, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Marries Sarah Bartley at Rose Street Methodist Church in Trimdon Grange, County Durham. They ‘live in’ with a grandmother in Marmaduke Street, Spennymoor. Dr. W. Revans, Director of Education for the National Coal Board buys five paintings for the NCB. The Spennymoor Settlement is dubbed by the regional press as ‘The Pitman's Academy.’
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