Hollywood legend whose art lay in Yorkshire

IT WAS an unlikely friendship between a Hollywood screen idol and a Yorkshire artist, forged by an admiration of the beauty and vastness of the Pennine landscape.

Actor James Mason, who was born in Huddersfield, was filming in the north of England when he was encouraged to meet artist Peter Brook. The screen legend became an admirer and collector of Mr Brook's paintings of deserted farmhouses, moorlands and remote rural scenes, often featuring a man and his sheepdog.

For many years Mr Brook's work hung at Mason's home in Switzerland, and now 15 have been put up for sale by the late actor's estate. The collection includes wintry scenes and in one a wagon loaded with hay is negotiating a snow-filled road.

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Richard Hopkinson, head of pictures at Bonhams, in Chester, which is auctioning the pictures, believes Mason was attracted to the works as they were a reminder of home.

He said: "Peter's paintings have got this very strong sense of place and I think at this period of time Mason was living for the most part in Switzerland and I think it's the connection with home which explains why they meant quite so much to him."

It was not just Mason who was impressed by Mr Brook's work – actors including Tom Courtenay and Rodney Bewes, who played Bob Ferris in the BBC sitcom The Likely Lads, also followed the late artist's career.

Mr Hopkinson believes the attraction is that the paintings speak for themselves.

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"The pictures are very subtle but it's very immediately obvious what the artist is about," he said.

"Everyone has said that Peter Brook himself was a very sort of shy, modest, self-effacing person and I don't think it was ever a case of him pushing himself into the limelight, much more that these people just loved his work."

It is estimated the works will fetch between 1,500 and 5,000 each when they go under the hammer next month.

In his earlier life Mason enjoyed an awkward relationship with his home town, giving an interview with a magazine saying how he never wanted to visit it again. But in later life he reacquainted himself, rediscovering his roots and making peace with his home town.

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Mason was introduced to the painter by Bewes when they were filming Spring and Port Wine in 1969 in Bolton.

They visited the artist's home in Brighouse and formed a friendship, with their common interest in the landscape, towns and life of the Huddersfield and Holmfirth area.

Mason visited the artist, who was born near Holmfirth, in the following 15 years, whenever he was in the area.

In 1972 Mr Brook appeared in Home James, a TV film about Mason's Huddersfield memories.

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On the death of Mason's father, Mr Brook painted Croft House, the actor's family home in Huddersfield. This painting is included in the sale.

Mason also assisted the artist with loans to and purchases from the artist's exhibitions at Thomas Agnews and Sons, London, in the 1970s.

The actor bought about 30 works by Mr Brook and many of these were prominently displayed in his home in Switzerland.

Mr Brook, whose trademark signature logo was one man and his dog, was the artist who would paint himself into his pictures, while the dog was his border collie Shep. He was Mr Brook's constant companion until he died in 2005, so it seemed only natural that he, too, be included in the pictures.

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James Mason was born in Huddersfield in 1909. His major films included Julius Caesar (1953) and A Star is Born (1954) and in 1984 he appeared as the lord of the manor in The Shooting Party (1985).

His work took him far away from Huddersfield, but he retained links with his home town.

The sale will take place at Bonhams, in Chester, on November 17.