It was here while observing the contrast of the darkness of the mines and the lightness of the world above that he was first inspired to paint.
For many years he pushed a handcart of his paintings – vibrant cartoonish scenes of the life and people of South Yorkshire – round his local pubs selling what he could.
His first one-man show opened in 1973 and lasted for two years at the Attic Café near Sheffield’s main bus station.
Cinema view
This early signed 18in x 2ft 3in (45 x 70cm) oil on canvas above of a Sheffield street with a cinema scene on verso is dated to 1971, a few years before the Attic Café show was held.
Estimated at £400-600 by Halls (20/12% buyer’s premium) of Shrewsbury, it sold on September 18 to a private buyer from Sheffield for £4000, matching Scarborough’s current auction record.
More than 60 of the artist’s paintings and drawings are currently on display at Museums Sheffield in the first major retrospective of Scarborough’s work in over 25 years.
