大象传媒

James Morton has been described as Darwen鈥檚 greatest artist of the 20th Century. But he never realised his full potential. He was killed by German machine guns on 6 November 1918 - just five days before the end of the war and two days after 鈥� and not far from 鈥� the poet Wilfred Owen.

On James鈥� headstone, near where he fell, an inscription simply reads: 鈥淎rtist, Darwen, Lancashire.鈥�

Morton鈥檚 four sisters had paid for him to go to art college in London before the war. After his death, they kept his work together at their small house in Darwen. But, following the death of his last sister in 1967, the collection was sold at auction and split up.

Recently, a group called the Friends of Darwen Library, has managed to re-discover a large number of Morton鈥檚 works. They鈥檝e held an exhibition at the library and a book鈥檚 been produced to try and bring his tragic wartime story to a new audience in his hometown

Location: Sudell Rd, Darwen, Lancashire BB3 3HD
Image shows a self-portrait of James Moreton, courtesy of Friends of Darwen鈥檚 Library
Report presented by Tim Padfield

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