Tag: mosaic art

Designer Desire: George Mayer-Marton

Montage of George Mayer-Marton church mosaic works

 I was saddened to read about yet another priceless piece of art potentially soon to be destroyed. It’s a work by George Mayer-Marton (1897–1960) – his fresco and mosaic of the crucifixion which can be found behind the alter of the Holy Rosary Church in Fitton Hill, Oldham.

The church has been closed since 2017 and is set to be demolished… along with the mosaic inside. As you can see from our montage of before & after images above, the artwork has already been *probably* irreparably damaged; the two ends having been painted over in the 1980s, only the central figure of Christ remains.

Mayer-Marton’s mural in St Clare’s RC Church in Blackley, Manchester is the only other of his pieces which survives in situ in its original site. Another of his mosaics, Pentecost, was removed from a now demolished church in Netherton, Merseyside was luckily rescued and currently resides in Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

A number of representatives from arts, architecture and heritage organisations have taken campaigning action – appealing to Historic England for its rescue; they include The Victoria and Albert Museum, Save Britain’s Heritage, The Imperial War Museum, The Victoria Gallery in Liverpool and The Vivian Gallery in Swansea.

A book to help fund the campaign has been published by Baquis Press. You can find copies here.

A mere 3 days ago, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) on Historic England’s recommendation gave the building – and Mayer-Marton’s mural – Grade II listed status.

Portrait of George Mayer-Marton

Additional image credits:
Craace | Manchester Evening News

Designer Desire: Biggs and Collings

Collage of Biggs and Collings mosaic works | H is for Home

When we recently spent an afternoon wandering around Spitalfields, we stopped to photograph an amazing public art wall mosaic on Brushfield Street.

After a little online research, we discovered that it was the work of husband & wife duo, Biggs and Collings.

Emma Biggs explains of the wall mosaic:

The design is based on Biggs & Collings paintings. The site is the former Fruit and Wool Exchange. The whites and light greys and browns relate to the colours of wool, and the strong hues pick up the colours of fruit. The rather ‘off’ tones come from looking at silks woven in the area in the 18th century. The weavers were largely Huguenots, refugees from religious repression.

Once we learned it was them, we looked into the other works that they’d done. They produce paintings and textiles, but its their mosaics that we find most stunning. The ones we’ve featured above are in private, public and commercial settings and located around the world.

Portrait of Biggs and Collingscredit

Additional image credits:

Emma Biggs | Mosaic Art Now | Sophie Munns