“Uncovering an extraordinary lost fresco sounds like a story out of the ruins of Pompeii, but it’s here in a Salford secondary school”
A second national heritage group is backing a campaign to stop “a rare and beautiful” piece of art from being destroyed.
As reported in the Manchester Evening News a fresh application has been made for the work to be listed as council-contracted bulldozers are poised to rip down the building in which it is housed next month. It comes after new expert opinion says it can be salvaged.
Salford City Council’s culture boss insists they are not “dismissing” the value and integrity of the work but says the cost of saving it could be as much as £400,000.
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The Twentieth Century Society has now joined SAVE Britain’s Heritage in supporting a listing bid to Historic England, the government’s adviser on heritage, to protect and celebrate the work by Hungarian artist, George Mayer-Marton. The application for it to be listed has been made by Mayer-Marton’s great nephew, Nick Braithwaite.
For the best part of 30 years a fresco created by Mayer-Marton has lay out of sight at a school in Swinton. Inexplicably, someone decided to cover it with plaster and emulsion in the 1990s.
.The mural from 1954, The Five Joyful Mysteries of the Virgin’s Rosary, filled a whole wall in the entrance foyer of St Ambrose Barlow RC School. The building in Shaftsbury Road, is now owned by Salford city council as the school moved to a brand new site in Wardley
Bulldozers are already starting work on the former school site, the home of the artwork. The foyer where it is housed is due to be pulled down in mid November. The site is being cleared to make way for new housing.
The work is the only known surviving mural painted wholly in the ‘true fresco’ technique by the artist, where paint is applied to wet plaster. A new home is now urgently needed for the work.
Oli Marshall, campaigns director at Twentieth Century Society, said: “Uncovering an extraordinary lost fresco sounds like a story straight out of the ruins of Pompeii, but it’s happened right here in a Salford secondary school. Over recent years we’ve seen many examples of historic murals that have been successfully relocated, which is exactly what we’re hoping will now happen with the Mayer-Marton mural.
“Let’s get it nationally listed and find this exquisite work of art a happy new home, to make way for the much needed new housing that’s planned for the former school site.”
Mr Braithwaite said: “We are calling on Historic England to list this outstanding artwork as a matter of urgency. This significant piece tells the story of Mayer-Marton’s early work after arriving in Britain and predates his now grade II-listed mural in Oldham. I strongly believe that this mural deserves that same, national recognition.”
Professor Clare Willsdon, Professor of the History of Western Art, at University Glasgow, said: “It occupies a highly important place both in Mayer-Marton’s oeuvre and in the history of mural decoration in post-war Europe, and it is vital that it is saved for future generations.”
Henrietta Billings, director of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, said: “This is an incredible discovery – a rare and beautifully crafted mural by George Mayer-Marton, a highly accomplished post-war artist who lived and worked for many years in Greater Manchester and Liverpool. According to a recent conservator’s report, it appears to remain intact under a layer of modern plaster and is recoverable. We are backing calls for its urgent protection and national recognition through listing. It needs a secure future and a new home so that its powerful artistry can be revealed and enjoyed for years to come.”
Artworks by Mayer-Marton are held in the V&A, the British Museum, the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea, the Scottish National Gallery and the Belvedere Gallery in Vienna.
Historic England is considering evidence regarding the mural’s recoverability and is due to make a recommendation early this week.
Historic England initially turned down an application for listing over uncertainty around how much of the mural survives – but new evidence has since been submitted following further tests carried out by a conservator earlier this month.
Mr Braithwaite led a high-profile campaign in 2020-22 to save another exceptional work, Crucifixion, by Mayer-Marton, in the Holy Rosary Church in Oldham (1955).
The demolition of the school, scheduled for the summer, was stalled after a request from the Consulate General of Hungary based in Portland Street, Manchester, who contacted Salford Council requesting that an expert be given access to the site to determine if the mural can be salvaged.
Councillor Hannah Robinson-Smith, Lead Member for Culture, Heritage, Equalities, Sports and Leisure at Salford City Council, said: “Discussions have been ongoing for some time on this subject and I want to make it clear, this is not about dismissing this piece of work or the accomplishments of George Mayer-Marton, we are not disputing his integrity as an artist.
“The issues with this mural are around timing and finances and these issues now make it very difficult to save it. We know that whilst some minimal work has been undertaken, no one is able to say with 100% certainty that the whole of the mural is intact and in a good quality making it salvageable.
“There are substantial costs involved in attempting to save the mural. Estimates of around £400,000 would be needed to remove the wall and currently hidden mural and that is before additional restoration costs are factored in and costs involved in finding a new home for the wall , which to date has not been identified. Unfortunately, no one to date has been able to provide the funds to cover these costs and any sort of campaign to raise funds would not be possible in the time frame we are working to for the demolition work.”
