Appeal to find lost artworks of Arthur Berry

Arthur Berry would have turned 100 this year, and is being celebrated with a series of events

Lost work by an artist, playwright and poet from Stoke-on-Trent is being sought, after it was discovered many of his pieces were undocumented.

Arthur Berry, who was born in 1925 and died in 1994, was often referred to as "the Lowry of the Potteries", and his work captured working-class life in north Staffordshire.

This year would be his 100th birthday, and a local museum is urging anyone with a piece of his art to come forward so it can be catalogued and used in a digital gallery archive, safeguarding his legacy.

"The discovery of any lost artworks would be hugely significant," said Barewall Art Gallery's director Amanda Bromley.

"Having grown up alongside Stoke-on-Trent, Berry's work across painting, poetry, plays and beyond has traced the changing face of the city across a century of its life.

"His art stands as a vital chronicle of working-class experience, and uncovering further pieces will broaden our insight into his practice and strengthen his legacy."

Pieces brought to the museum in October will be sensitively unframed, photographed, and reframed.

Owners will receive a certificate of authentication.

Works can be taken to the museum in October to be catalogued

Works of particular interest to the museum team are those sold or gifted before 2012, with a focus on those created prior to 1985.

When the city's Potteries Museum and Art Gallery staged a retrospective of Berry's work in 1984, the exhibition featured 113 pieces, but the whereabouts of only a small number of those are known.

Slides discovered in Berry's studio after his death in 1994 also suggest further artworks are yet to be located.

Pieces currently missing include Asbestos Garage, the still life Apples and Mugs, and The Lovers.

The project forms part of Arthur Berry 100 - a year-long programme of exhibitions, performances, workshops, films and more - delivered through partners including the New Vic Theatre and Staffordshire Film Archive.

The museum added that the rediscoveries would add to the collective understanding of Berry's extraordinary contribution to 20th Century art and culture.