H WALDER artist

I have some prints of old Wigan signed by H Walder. I bought them in Wigan about 10 years ago when we moved away. I wonder if anyone knows who this person is or was.

Seems he was a very prolific painter. Smiths the Wigan book shop. Has the copyright to sell his prints. I have a couple myself There are also postcards of his paintings. Smiths sold them a few years ago. Then they stopped selling the postcards, as postcards, and only sold them in small picture frames.

I bought these in Smiths Bookshop to take up to the north of scotland with us as reminders of home when me moved 10 years ago. I have 4 small ones, 2 medium ones and 1 large one of the old rugby ground.

If you like local art, There's a local Artist named Antony Barrow, who is becoming more and more popular, He's painted quite a few or Wigan and sold some to a london gallery, there worth investing in.

I am quite sure this painter lived on Manchester rd across from the pingy and Heyes,s grocery store.His son played the the piano accordion if i,m not mistaken.

Hiya Julie,Harry was my mums uncle he married my Grandads sister Mary Constance in 1931 at St.Catherines Scholes,he was a prolific painter and painted many local scenes some more popular than others.He painted quite a lot on the canal bank off Darlington street where they lived,After he died his wife asked my mum if i would help her move some stuff in the house,in her front room or "best room" as she called it you could not move for Harry's paintings there must have been hundreds of them i have never seen such brilliant paintings of Wigan and every one with a story to tell.Anyroad up after moving the stuff for her i thought i might be asked if i would like painting or two,but no a brew and a Kit Kat is what i got,don't have a clue what happened to the paintings after Connie died they most likely went with their daughter Marina who was still in the forces(i think)at the time.I have looked on the internet for info on Harry but can't find any,Glad you enjoy the paintings anyway they can't be mistaken for anywhere else but Wigan,and like i say they seem to have a story for everyone who knows Wigan.

I have 2 large prints by Harry he had them framed specially for my Mum one is the parish church and one is Wigan Pier. They are both marked 1 of 200 and signed. He also painted 2 for my Mum a few years before his death and she treasures them.

He knew his stuff danni,such a shame that not many folk saw the paintings he did just too amuse himself.

the ones he did for Mum are the parish church on a rainy day and the top of Standishgate they are about 10 x 12 and beautifully framed

Thanks for the info xrh59, as you say it would be nice to know what happened to all his paintings. I also googled him and found nothing which is why I posted to Wiganworld. I was right in thinking that someone on here would know.

Your welcome Julie,I think the reason he isn't known outside of Wigan is that he was friends with Sid Smith(of Smiths of Wigan)who liked some of his paintings and said he would try and sell some of them for him and it stayed as a local thing.I am sure that Mr Smith had a good collection of his original paintings at some stage,but i can't be definate about that.

i have two original watercolours not prints by h walder of scenes in blackpool...i am wondering if anyone has any idea where i could find out their value or any history regarding them...cheers in advance mike

Not sure on that one simmo,as i said they are a sort of local interest mainly and have never heard of any being sold for a lot of cash.Can i ask how long you have the paintings and how you came by them,i seem to remember a Blackpool painting in his house,i think it was of the Blackpool lights but not sure.As for history it's anybodys guess now,are the paintings dated? if so they would probably be from that date although i know he did paint from memory.Hope this is of some use to you.

i inherited them from my late uncle and they are watercolours ,one is a view of the site for the grand theatre and one is of talbot square ... its true its difficult to find any information on the artist and like you say this could be because he was little known outside his native wigan

I would just keep a hold of them simmo,you never know! if i find anything else of interest i will put it on here,sorry i can't be more helpfull but someone else may know somthing,so keep popping in for a check.

Bought one of harry's paintings from a charity shop in wigan decided to give it a clean took the back and to my surprise inside at the back of the original was another painting of a mill a water Mill poss in bottling wood

Lot 175 - H WALDER 6 PEN AND WASH DRAWINGS Street scene of early 20th century Wigan Signed and dated 1975 8 1/2” x 11” (21.5cm x 28cm)- Hammer: £440

Specialist Auction of Northern Artists

You can view the six drawings on the page - Scroll down to lot 175 and click on the image

Thanks Frances - I love the one showing the entrance to the railway station. Lovely pictures. It is a pity he didn't get more well known outside Wigan.

Hello Lesley

They are lovely aren't they, I wish I had a couple of those hanging up in my house the colours are so vibrant

Lots of Harry's paintings on this site

Framed-up

I believe the remaining finished and unfinished works went to his daughter.
Actually, he lived on Darlington Street East, Wigan - close to the old railway station.
Harry Walder did a lot of local scenes of Wigan, because he felt part of them, enjoyed doing them, and later because they were requested.
Harry also did various works of art on subjects like animals and coastal scenes.

He loved drawing and painting, especially detailed watercolours. Most of his time was spent painting and so he produced a lot of paintings - some to requests and some for his own pleasure.

There are lots of signed prints in existance, which were sold via 'Smiths'. The truth behind this is not really a happy one. Harry was paid an embarrassing pittance for each signature that he put on each print. The only pleasureable fact is, Harry's name is reasonably well-known around Wigan, because of the signed prints which were sold via Smiths.

Most towns have or had a local artist or two who painted or still paint in a similar style, so it is extremely difficult for an artist to become famous in another area, especially when the artist specializes on local scenes of his or her hometown. Local scenes are treasured by the locals who remember them fondly and feel part of them.

For those people who have prints and/or paintings by Harry Walder, treasure them for what they are and not for how much they are worth. I can tell you honestly and genuinely, that is what Harry would have wanted!

Thanks frances for the link to Framed up - there are some great paintings on there. Also ianp thanks for the additional information. Did you know Harry Walder? I am not surprised that old Mr. Smith would have done a deal!

Hello Lesley,
Yes! I knew Harry Walder. For decades, I used to see him at least once a week on average. Whenever I saw him we said hello to each other and sometimes had a quick chat. There were times when we spent time together talking about art.

I am one of the lucky few to have had the pleasure of being shown some of Harry's paintings by the artist himself. I was invited into his house on a number of occasions - I was even invited into his shed, which may sound strange, but Harry bought himself a very nice shed to work in, which was his private area and escapism. It was larger than your average garden shed, probably about 10ft x 8ft. He had the shed positioned in the bottom corner of his yard, between the gate and the wall which seperated his yard from the yard next door.

Harry was a really nice bloke and I got on extremely well with him. There was a great age difference - I am much younger. If Harry were alive today he would be over 100years old - I think, he would be about 106yrs old. But! Age difference was certainly not of interest when we were discussing art.

I am happy and proud to say, 'I knew Harry Walder and had the chance to spend some time with the very nice bloke...'

He actually lived on Darlington street east, just after Dickinsons The Bottlers in Brookhouse street.

The Wigan & Leigh Hospice shop on Mesnes Road has all the old stock from Smiths of Harry Walders prints. Unframed and they have all sizes, they are going for a song too! So if you need any for your collection, thats the place to pick up a bargain,

I bought four of them, all signed by him and they are very good. I will be hanging them in my dinning room as soon as it's been redecorated.

I bought four large ones and a couple of smaller ones there are quite a number of prints but there are only a few different scenes, to be honest they are more or less giving them away but they will be very much appreciated here

Thank you for letting us know timmyblue2