The current exhibition by James Lindsey Bird (1903 – 1972) at Darlington Library Art Gallery now contains 91 works by this Crook born artist, who studied at the Royal College of Art in London, exhibited at the Royal Academy, and was Head of Art and Design at the Boys Grammar School in Darlington for several decades, before retiring and working at Gallery 2 in Mechanics Yard, pictured above. Bird worked prolifically throughout his life, and the current exhibition at Darlington Library Art Gallery contains drawings, watercolours, engravings, works in bodycolour (gouache) tackling many different subjects. The current exhibition is open Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm and Saturday 9am – 3pm until Tuesday 29 September 2026, and we’ve received lots of positive comments from visitors so far, including those who knew the artist and those who have discovered his work for the first time. These include:
- My old art master!!! An honour and a privilege to have known and loved this show – I owe him a huge debt of gratitude. A FINE exhibition of some lovely work.
- Tremendous work! ‘River Wear with Shipping’ (a watercolour by JLB from Darlington Borough Art Collection – CD Manager’s note in brackets) is from the Wear Bridge I think. Saw it many times. V. nostalgic!
- Wonderful life’s work collection of this dedicated teacher and artist. I hope we will see a similar exhibition in here in years to come by the next generation of artists.
- A super show of the craft of drawing & painting as we were taught, as a 1970’s student.
- An inspiration to me from 1956 – 63. I followed in his footsteps to become an Art teacher for 34 years. A brilliant man.
- I’d never heard of him but it is an impressive body of work. I wish that I had been taught by him!!
The majority of works in the current exhibition were kindly loaned for exhibition by members of the artists family and collectors of his work, although it also contains works by the artist held in Darlington Borough Art Collection. Last week we added some new works to the exhibition, including the picture of Gallery 2 in Mechanics Yard, an oil painting of Jodrell Bank, a snow scene from the Cleveland Hills, a pastel of the artist’s cat and a number of landscapes. James Lindsey Bird never seemed to be far away from making his next work during his lifetime, and we hope you’ll find the exhibition interesting if you have the chance to pop in.
If the exhibition wets your appetite to explore the art of James Lindsey Bird further the following website shares a number of works which are not in view at Darlington Library Art Gallery James Lindsey Bird :: About Darlington.
