North Shields-born artist Victor Rainbird died on this day in 1936. The talented lad from North Shields who, during his short professional career, recorded for posterity the everyday sights and scenes that he saw around the Fish Quay, old North Shields, Cullercoats & Whitley Bay in the period before and after WWI.
Born on 12 December 1887 in north east fishing community of North Shields, Victor Noble Rainbird attended King’s College (now Newcastle University), Newcastle upon Tyne, before attending the Royal Academy Schools in 1911 where he twice won Silver Medals as well as the coveted Landseer Scholarship. He was a rising start before the the First World War upon the onset of which he volunteered and served in the Northumbrian Fusiliers. He survived the war, though at a cost, suffering both from shell shock and mustard gas poisoning. Rainbird was never the same again and though he continued to paint some fine work, his deteriorating health saw him turn to alcohol.
An exhibition of his work in 2016 which raised more than £6,500 to give Rainbird a proper headstone at Preston Cemetery in North Shields where he had lain in a pauper’s grave for more than 80 years.
Of late there has been an upsurge of interest in the man and his work with a play based around his life receiving critical acclaim when it was premiered at the Exchange in North Shields
Featonby’s have several works of art from Victor Noble Rainbird in their upcoming Specialist Sale on Monday 25th March – Register your interest now at featonbys.co.uk
