WHEN Pyramid Gallery’s landlord, the National Trust, commissioned the repainting of its building in Stonegate, York, gallery owner Terry Brett had no idea that the scaffolding would encroach halfway across the road and require reinforcement with corrugated iron sheets to protect it from lorries.
"The result was like being hidden in a dark cave," says Terry, but this story has a happy ending. "I started painting canvases to hang on the scaffold, hoping to attract passers-by into the tunnel. Then a stroke of good fortune arose out of the crisis."
David Haldane, ex-cartoonist for The Times and Punch, had been booked by Pyramid Gallery to exhibit his work and to give a lecture at a meeting of York Artworkers Association. "As he was in York, he called into the gallery and sketched a cartoon depicting a pirate following a treasure map that led him to Pyramid Gallery. The caption read: Hidden Gems Here," says Terry.
Hanging an original Haldane picture outside the gallery duly helped draw customers inside. "People certainly didn't mind entering our shop via a tunnel. I think they quite liked it," says Terry.
David Haldane at work on his impromptu cartoon for the temporary scaffolding at Pyramid Gallery, York. Gallery owner Terry Brett looks on
Haldane, who lives in Morpeth, started sending cartoons to Punch in the late 1970s while working for the local paper in South Shields. His first cartoon in the satirical magazine was published in 1979 and his career there lasted until 1992, having provided artwork for most issues, including several full-colour covers and many full-page features.
His show at Pyramid is his first for a gallery and coincides with Haldane finishing a 22-year contract as feature cartoonist at The Times. The exhibition covers his entire career with re-drawings of some of his favourite pieces plus many originals. Look out, in particular, for a new work that refers to his Trump-related blog, Alternative Facts, and his forthcoming book, The Eat Generation.
Haldane's exhibition runs until July 12. Most of the work is available to buy online at the gallery website, pyramidgallery.com, and prints of some pieces are on sale too.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here