Olive Bagshaw 1931-2017

About Olive Bagshaw 

Olive Bagshaw (1931–2017) was a British painter whose artistic career spanned more than 50 years. Her work encompassed portraiture, still life, landscapes, nudes, and abstract compositions, executed in oil and later in acrylic media. Works by Olive Bagshaw are held in the collection of Salford Museum and Art Gallery.

Institutional references:
Art UK – https://artuk.org/discover/artists/bagshaw-olive-19312017
Wikidata – https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137513154

Olive Bagshaw is often associated with the Northern School of British painting, reflecting her training and career in north-west England and her contemporaries.

Legacy to Compassion in World Farming and Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

After their deaths, Olive and Greg left the entire residue of their estate equally between the charities: Compassion in World Farming and the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. This reflected their lifelong concern for the welfare of both human beings and animals. Contributions to these charities may be made through the above links.

Jacqueline's Private Collection 1960s - 1980s

This collection of 25 works was added in August 2025. The works were completed over three decades, but they are not arranged in chronological order at this time. At this stage, the numbering (1-25) has been prefixed with a zero and the numbering from the collection has been retained. They appear at the end of the collection before the colletion of abstracts. 

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"Jackie" was a lifelong friend of Olive Bagshaw.

Jacqueline's Private Collection  1960s - 1980s

This collection of 25 works was added in August 2025. The works were completed over three decades, but they are not arranged in chronological order at this time. At this stage, the numbering has been prefixed with a zero and the numbering from the collection has been retained. Thanks are due to Kate and her brothers Christian and Oli who have made this collection available and have provided the titles and sizes of the works. Further details may be added in future and the collection of images may be re-arranged.

   

01 Honesty 26 x 20 inches

02  Albert Bateson  22 x 16 inches

03  Jackie  24 x 20 inches

04   Book  24 x 20 inches

05   Renee 20 x 14½  inches (Frame size 22½ x16½)

06   Rivington    20 x 24  inches   

07     Gypsophila  24 x 19½ inches   (Frame size 28¾ x 25)   

08   Jackie   24 x 20 inches   (29½ x 25½)   

09   Unknown  16 x 12  inches   (Frame size 20 x 16)    

  

010  Unknown   18 x 12½ inches              

 

011  Roses    8 x 12 inches            

012   Seascape   14 x 18  inches      

  

013  Albert Bateson    24 x 20 inches            

014   Unknown   18 x 22  inches         

015   Sam      9 x 6½ inches     (Frame size 13¾ x 11)        

016   Christian   12½ x 9½ inches   ( Frame size 15 x 12¼ )      

017   Rose   17¼ x 9¼  inches   (Frame size 22 x 14)    

      

018   Ellen  17½ x 13½ inches  (Frame size 22½ x 18½)    

   

019   Flowers in glass reflection  28 x 23½ inches   (Frame size 30½ x 26¼ )  

        

020     Jackie     11⅜ x 9½  inches   (Frame size 15 x 13)     

      

021   Daisies and buttercups    25½ x 19½ inches  (Frame size 30½ x 24½)         

022   Stool  17½ x 13½ inches   (Frame size 20½ x 16½ )    

     

023   Buttercups   17½ x 13½  inches  (Frame size 20½ x 16½ )   

      

024    Mr Campbell   22 x 18  inches 

              

025   Boots 15½ x 13½ inches   (Frame size 19½ x 17¼ )   

 

Olive Bagshaw 1931-2017

NEW WORK ADDED TO CATALOGUE: SILVER BIRCH WOOD  (Added to catalogue number 100A)

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55cm x 45cm Signed by the Artist Exhibited at the BDP Vernon Gallery June1973 number 30

This work is currently on sale by auction at Wilson55 Auctioneers (Image Copyright with Wilson55)

09.10.2025

Biography and list of works

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OLIVE BAGSHAW ABSTRACT WORKS

My email address is:    tbjolliffe@gmail.com 

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Legacy to Compassion in World Farming and Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

After their deaths, Olive and Greg left the entire residue of their estate equally between the charities: Compassion in World Farming and the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. This reflected their lifelong concern for the welfare of both human beings and animals. Contributions to these charities may be made through the above links.

 

Olive created a substantial number of abstract works in the later phase of her creative life. At the executor's sale in January 2019 after the death of her husband Greg, a total of 63 abstracts were listed by Silverwoods of Clitheroe. In paintings numbered 130 and 131in the main blog there are elements which presage the change to abstract work. A painting which falls into the category of representation, being of what looks to be a reflection in a mirror of candlesticks, but could be seen as an abstract, is reproduced as the first of the abstracts, though its date is unknown. 

A Commentary on the Abstracts has been written by Clive Bridger, which can be found at the end of the sequence below.

A full biography of Olive Bagshaw appears at the end of this blog. Her works in other genres may be found in the other main blog and following these abstracts. 

163 14 A 122 x 61 cm double sided

164 14B. 122 x 61 Double sided

165 1A 122 x 61cm double sided

166 1 B 122 x 61 cm double sided

167 24. 122 x 61 cm

168 22b 84 x 76 cm Double sided

169 22A. 84 x 76 cm Double sided

170 18. 122 x 92 cm

171 3. 152 x 92 cm

172 29. 122 x 92 cm Lot 4162

173 12. 122 x 92 cm

174 13. 122 x 92 cm

175 21 122 x 92 cm Top indicated on reverse

176 28. 153 x 92 cm Top Indicated on reverse

177 26. 91 x 61 cm

178 16.   Salford Museum and Art Gallery 122 x 61 cm framed

179 8. 122 x 92 cm Lot 4161

180 5. 125 x 94 cm signed 95 lot 4159 x

181 10. 122 x 92 cm Signed Lot 4162 x 7 Silverwoods

182   25. 122 x 91 cm Highly textured

183 23. 122 x 61 cm Framed

184   9. 122 x 92 cm

185   4. 152 x 92 cm

186   2. 81 x 55 cm

187   22A. 84 x 76 cm Double sided (Now 168 above)

188   22b 84 x 76 cm Double sided (Now 169 above)

189   27. 91 x 61 cm

190  17. 122 x 92 cm

191   11. 122 x 92 cm

192   30. 122 x 61 cm

193  19A. 122 x 61  cm

193 detail  19A detail

194  20 122 x 61 cm framed

195  15. 122 x 61 cm

196  61cm x77 cm

197  (Appears as 135 in representational section above)

198  7. 122 x 92 cm

199        122 x 92 cm 

Private Collection  of Jane Blunt

Commentary on the Abstracts

I am indebted to Clive Bridger, former Principal Lecturer in Art History at South Devon College who has written the following commentary on the abstracts. This is an unexplored field and so I have found Clive's  comments to be extremely useful bearings and signposts to directions of further study.

"Many of the abstract works seem to take their cue from Fig 163 in being a sort of ‘plan view’ looking down on a motif.  Figs 165,167,183,188,191 for instance almost seem like aerial views of settlements or field systems, or even Nazca lines.  Almost all seem to stem from the ‘abstraction’ of figurative motifs, rather than pure formal invention.

Some feel in character and texture as though reductions of organic form (tree bark perhaps in 185 or 189). In one or two there is the suggestion of references to Aboriginal or pre–Columbian American figurative imagery, Fig 152 for instance. Or perhaps even an acquaintance with the work of Dubuffet.

Fig 131 (Whin's Bridge series) would seem to be the genesis for works such as Figs 164,166,194, 195: organic plant forms in front of a generalised atmospheric space.

The textures and colours also often seem to suggest something ancient almost archaeological (cracking and peeling paintwork, the vestiges of shapes emerging from earth colours and textures).

It is an expressive and organic form of abstraction with its roots in the visible and tactile world.

The variety of approaches suggest she is searching for a method that convinces her in these works. I feel the most successful of these are those in which there is coherence between the formal shapes and the picture plane, such as 175 and particularly 178. Here the colour and formal composition seem to complement each other most successfully, but this is very subjective."

Clive Bridger, December 2020

Purpose of this record

The aim of this blogged record and brief biography is to enlarge the wider public's understanding and appreciation of Olive Bagshaw's work. The quality of some images included is not good, but they are included until better ones become available.

If an owner of an Olive Bagshaw painting would like to have a work by Olive Bagshaw added to this record and made publicly available for the enjoyment of the general public through this record, please get in touch with me as I shall be very happy to include it. Similarly, if you have any information which you think might add to the usefulness of this blog, please let me know. See the end of this blog.

Please refer to notes about copyright and Artist's copyright at the end of this blog.
My email address is: tbjolliffe@gmail.com


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A Brief Biography

Olive Bagshaw was born on 27th November 1931 in Salford, Lancashire.

Olive studied Textile Design at Salford School of Art from 1946-1949. Working as a designer, at the age of 21, she enrolled at the Regional College of Art in Manchester for part time studies in Portrait Painting in 1953 and each successive year until 1961.See note 5

Olive knew Harry Rutherford, an eminent artist of the Northern School. Harry Rutherford was very probably Olive's tutor at the Regional College of Art where he taught. One of Harry Rutherford's most well known portraits is of Olive Bagshaw. This is included at Note 1. Olive painted a portrait of Harry Rutherford which was selected for the Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition in 1961 and subsequently went on tour in 1962.  The previous year her portrait of Tommy Cooper had been included in the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts Exhibition.(Manchester Evening News 13.12.1961) See note 6

Olive Bagshaw Self Portrait (Private collection)

Olive was a passenger in a car involved in a road accident in 1961 which left her permanently unable to walk. Olive was in hospital for a year. Olive married Greg Driver, who had known Olive since he was 16 years old, in the autumn of 1965.

Olive wanted her artistic merit to stand alone, quite separate from her personal circumstances and her physical disability. Always a very private individual, she lived happily with her husband for the rest of her life at Riverside Cottage, Birchin Lane near Chorley in Lancashire. In the last part of her artistic development, in her later years, she focussed on abstract works, many in acrylic and mixed media, constantly developing her unique vision.

Chronology of Exhibitions 

In her early career, Olive Bagshaw specialised in portraiture, still life subjects and some landscapes. To begin with, her still life subjects were quite varied and eclectic, but as time passed, Olive concentrated more on paintings of flowers in her still life works. 

She maintained the focus on portraits until 1972.  Her portraits were exhibited by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in London. She exhibited also at The Royal Academy, The Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the Federation of British Artists (The Mall Galleries). Her most important exhibitions were at Salford Museum and Art Gallery.

1966  A very early private exhibition was held at The Limes, 816 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury in 1966.

1970  Her first exclusive exhibition was at the Monks Hall Museum and Gallery in Eccles in May 

1970, when she exhibited 36 paintings. (See Appendix 1 below and Appendix 2, a contemporary review in the Daily Telegraph by F W Fenton the Northern Art Critic). See Note 7. Manchester Evening News 14.05.1970

1971  There followed an exhibition at Salford Art Gallery in 1971 (16th December - to 23rd January 1972). A catalogue for this exhibition can be found in Appendix 3. An appreciation of Olive's work by F W Fenton, the Northern Art Critic for the Daily Telegraph forms the foreword. I am indebted to Peter Ogilvie, the Collections Manager at Salford At Gallery for this document.

A newspaper feature from the Manchester Evening News has also been included at Appendix 3.

1972 She exhibited again at the Monks Hall Museum and Gallery in Eccles from January to May 1972. 

Olive stopped painting portrait commissions after this exhibition. In March, 1972, she wrote, "I've recently had a chance at outdoor landscape painting and it's been  a revelation to me after all these years of painting faces."Note 2.  From that point on, she embarked on a long period when she worked on landscapes. From the beginning, she appreciated the work of the Impressionists, particularly Claude Monet. Olive found constant inspiration in Nature. 

1973 In  June 1973, she exhibited 32 paintings in the BDP Vernon Gallery in Preston. Appendix 4.

As well as many more landscapes, Olive extended her subject matter to larger figure studies and nudes. 

1977 In 1977, her paintings across three genres were featured at a major exhibition at the City of Salford Art Gallery and Museum (19th August - 28th September). At that time, she was concentrating mainly on landscapes. 47 paintings were included. See Appendix 5a and 5b.

1985 Some paintings were exhibited at The Mall Galleries "Flowers and Gardens" exhibition in 1985. See below painting number 154. 

Paintings are held in the collection of the Salford Art Gallery and Museum.

Abstract Works

Subsequently, from the 1980s Olive Bagshaw began another phase in her painting, creating abstract works. An exhibition of her abstract works has never taken place. It is possible that some may have appeared at local exhibitions.She continued to paint abstracts mainly in acrylic paint but also with other materials until shortly before her death in 2017.

Final years

Olive's home suffered a flood early in 2015 and all the stored works had to be moved. Olive said that she had found it fascinating to see works which had been in storage for decades and which she had virtually forgotten about. She wrote that there were four distinct phases in her work. Towards the end of her life, I had discussions with Olive about the possibility of a retrospective exhibition. The failing health of her husband and of Olive herself made this an unachievable objective. Olive was in a care home with Greg at Fulwood near Preston and the paintings were in storage. 

Many of Olive's portraits were commissions. Nonetheless Olive's appetite for painting was such that she would paint a large number of uncommissioned  portraits. Many still life, landscape and figure paintings including from the exhibitions were sold throughout her life.

Legacy to Compassion in World Farming and Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

After their deaths, Olive and Greg left the entire residue of their estate equally between the charities: Compassion in World Farming and the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. This reflected their lifelong concern for the welfare of both human beings and animals.

Sale of Studio Works 2019

After the death of her husband, Greg, the executor's sale took place at Silverwoods Auction in Clitheroe, Lancs in early 2019. It is believed that all the works were sold to a single buyer. These were then split up and a number of these were sold at David Duggleby's Winter Art sale in 2019 and Spring Art sale in 2020. These were termed the "Artist's Studio Sale".  

Collection of Works 

In this account a collection of images of oil and acrylic paintings (including those from the Duggleby's  "artist's studio" sale) has been gathered from private and public collections, but it is just a sample.

It is hoped and intended that this blog, which I aim to be a basis for a catalogue, can be improved and expanded. Better quality images may be included in the future and more information about their history and details of their subject matter, etc, as a result of information received from those who knew Olive and Greg and who sat for portraits. I shall be grateful for any information. Please see my contact details at the top of this blog.  

No systematic documentation of Olive's paintings was found to exist after her death, so for a chronology I have had to rely on those paintings which were dated, information from owners, portrait subjects of the paintings and the changes in Olive's painting style in order to attribute approximate periods of time. 

What follows is an attempt at a broad chronological order, though not wholly so, as some paintings have been grouped by sitter or theme. As far as the abstract works are concerned, I have tried to group them into similar bands, but it is all guesswork, although one sequence is clearly derived from a physical location, Whin's Bridge. Note 3

Copyright 

Images

I have sought to record image copyright where I have been able to find it. Please let me know if you own copyright on images which is not credited. I shall be happy to record it or remove the image if you wish.

Artist's Copyright

Please note: To date, I have not been able to establish who holds Artist's Copyright for Olive Bagshaw's works reproduced in this blog. Currently, the provisions of Non Commercial Use are intended to apply. This blog is not monetized and its purpose is informational. Please let me know if you have any information about the artist's copyright. Contact details are to be found at the end of this blogpost.