Widow helps curate husband's retrospective

Tom Hume died in 2023 and his wife Barbara worked on his retrospective for two years

The life and work of a former art teacher is being celebrated in a retrospective exhibition co-curated by his widow.

More than six decades of work by Tom Hume, from Stockton, is on display at Ushaw Historic House in County Durham after his wife Barbara spent two years putting his work together.

Hume died in 2023, aged 81, after suffering a cardiac arrest while swimming in Seaham Harbour and Mrs Hume said working on the exhibition helped her learn new things about her husband.

Hume's work spanned portraiture, figurative subjects and abstract works and the exhibition features oil paintings, sketchbooks and preparatory drawings.

Mrs Hume said they had applied to have an exhibition at Ushaw four nights after her husband died and it was initially meant to just feature a collection of some of his larger paintings.

But the first open date was in two years' time so they decided to make it a retrospective.

Barbara Hume said working on the exhibition kept her going through the bereavement

Mrs Hume, who also went to art college, said spending two years working on the project helped her through her grief.

"It was very strange because I'm going through a massive bereavement," she said.

"We walked out of the house, he put his paintbrush down, he thought he was going to come back in an hour and finish painting.

"I think the exhibition actually kept me going."

When going through her husband's things, Mrs Hume discovered about 50 sketchbooks she had not seen before, some of which are on display in the exhibition.

"Suddenly, I felt as if I was in his head and I was learning things about him because of what he'd written," Mrs Hume said.

"Tears would flow, but also it gave me a focus.

"He didn't talk to me a lot, we just understood each other without much discussion.

"Reading those was the most wonderful thing, really, it was just like going through somebody's diaries."

Ushaw said the exhibition shows Hume's "devotion to art"

The exhibition features oil paintings, preparatory drawings and sketchbooks

Andrew Heard, visitor programmes manager at Ushaw, said: "Tom Hume's work represents a lifetime's devotion to art, not only in his own practice but through the many students and fellow artists he inspired.

"This exhibition is a moving tribute to his vision and vitality."

For most of his career, Hume worked as a teacher, serving as the head of art at Middlesbrough High School.

Many of his former students attended the exhibition when it opened earlier in November, which Mrs Hume said was "lovely to see".

"I really don't know what Tom would think [of the retrospective] because he had no ego," she said.

"He never looked for recognition or money."

Tom Hume: Retrospective runs at Ushaw until 18 January.