Description

Joe Tucker’s Uncle Eric was a beloved yet unconventional figure throughout Joe’s life. A shambolically dressed man who lived with his mother for almost eighty years, he had an almost compulsive need to charm strangers with working men’s club comedy routines, and appeared to exist only for daily trips to the bookie – and yet had also amassed over five hundred of his own remarkable paintings without anyone ever realising his achievements.

Towards the end of his life, Eric requested an exhibition of his work. As Joe and his family sorted through hundreds of paintings of street scenes, circus and theatre performers, and busy pubs, they began to ask more questions about Eric’s life: why had this fanatically sociable man never left his mother’s home? Had Eric ever experienced love when he painted it so beautifully? And what had driven him to create so much, yet share it so rarely?

In this touching, funny and thoughtful investigation of the nature of expression, the ownership of art and the secret life of those nearest to us, Joe Tucker brings us into his uncle’s extraordinary and compelling world. Perhaps more importantly, he also brings Eric Tucker’s life’s work into ours.

Publisher Review

A timely reminder that art did not originate as an investment opportunity or a get-rich-quick scheme but as a way for human beings to make sense of their lives (plus make them bearable into the bargain). Miracles happen in the most unlikely places — JARVIS COCKER Joe Tucker is a natural storyteller and The Secret Painter is a brilliant, engrossing read. Tucker discovers and uncovers a rich and fascinating tale hidden in his own family. What he finds, and how he acts upon it, will change their world forever, and his book serves as an important reminder to all of us that the great stories in our lives are often closer to us than we think — LEMN SISSAY A thoroughly satisfying enquiry into both a man and an artist. It was such a privilege to experience Eric’s world. Joe is such a good storyteller and there is something really interesting about how art – or any creative endeavour – finds a way to a public space and how that can be really reliant on the personal qualities of the artist. I loved The Secret Painter — CATHY RENTZENBRINK Like his uncle before him, Joe Tucker inserts humanity and humour into the story of art. In this brilliant biography, he paints a heart-warming picture of an ordinary working-class man who achieved creative greatness. This is an uplifting, true story behind the many masterpieces found in an attic in Warrington, and how they were finally brought down for the world to see. I couldn’t put this joyous book down! — RUTH MILLINGTON Praise for Eric Tucker’s work: ‘Tucker’s paintings are full of warmth * * The Times * * Tucker’s work isn’t just romantic in its mystery, but significant to British art as a whole. The man represents a cultural movement, encapsulating a too often ignored group of painters who studied a life hidden from London’s social scene * * iNews * * Tucker’s subjects ooze character * * NPR * * The collection is a remarkable, important find. Northern artists are so often written out of history — RUTH MILLINGTON An artist virtually unknown until his death in 2018 but since compared to L.S. Lowry * * Guardian * * Eric Tucker was shunned by the art world all his life. But after his death, his home was found crammed with portraits of a working class-life – and now they are selling for small fortunes * * Daily Mail * *