The Rubbish Dump, A Black Country Altarpiece

George Warner Allen (1916 - 1988)

Wolverhampton Art Gallery

1955

This work depicts an industrial landscape showing the factories and chimneys of the Black Country. In the foreground a young family sit surrounded by the detritus of modern day living, an indication of the grim reality of industrialisation and the hardship that surrounds them. The figure of Christ is depicted rising above the rubbish dump, inspiring the people to raise themselves out of poverty and offering a symbol of hope. It was painted for Canon David Wood, who had married Allen's cousin and was working at the Black Country Industrial Mission in Wolverhampton, based at St. George's Vicarage.

• Medium: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 182.9 x 122cm
• Art Fund Grant: £8000 ( Total: £18,000)
• ArtFunded in: 2007
• Vendor: Nicholas Bagshawe

Provenance

Canon Abell Wood; by descent to James Wood; Nicholas Bagshawe.

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