Larry Rushton had one of the more extraordinary routes into Blackpool’s artistic world. A safe-breaker, robber and prison escapee who discovered an ability to paint while behind bars, Rushton eventually became a successful self-taught artist associated with Blackpool and Lytham St Annes, producing paintings that ranged from clowns and tramps to portraits and scenes of working-class life.
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Rushton lived from 1919 to 1994, although details of his early life remain surprisingly difficult to establish. He became so closely associated with the Fylde Coast that he was subsequently described at auction as a “Blackpool Artist”, although there is currently no reliable evidence that he was actually born in the town. Much of the remarkable story of his earlier life comes from Artist Amongst Thieves: Larry Rushton – A True Story, written by his brother-in-law Derek Zimmerman from Rushton’s own recollections, published by Warcry Press. According to that account, Rushton became involved in crime as a young man and went on to build a lengthy criminal career involving safe-breaking, burglary, robbery with violence, bank robbery and conspiracy. His activities took him beyond Lancashire, with burglaries reportedly carried out in London and Glasgow, where he targeted wealthy homes. Prison inevitably followed, although keeping Rushton there apparently presented its own difficulties. He was said to have escaped from Armley Prison in Leeds within hours of arriving, with another escape reportedly following after he was transferred to Exeter Prison under increased supervision because the authorities suspected he might attempt to escape.
It was imprisonment that unexpectedly gave Rushton another direction in life. While being held in solitary confinement, he began creating pictures on his cell walls and door using the black wax provided for prison mailbags. According to the story preserved by his family, a prison governor recognised that Rushton possessed genuine artistic ability and encouraged him to develop it, suggesting that art might offer him an alternative to the life he had been leading. Rushton had no conventional artistic training, but painting gradually developed into considerably more than a prison pastime. Clowns became particularly associated with his work. One of his best-known pictures, The Loser, was reportedly painted while he was imprisoned in Hull. Other clown pictures followed, including Reflections, which was later reproduced as a limited-edition print, and The Great Popo, a surviving work signed and dated 1974. His paintings frequently concentrated on people rather than grand landscapes. Tramps, elderly men, street characters, working people and figures encountered in everyday life appear repeatedly among his surviving works, with titles including Butcher Boys, Man on a Park Bench, Northern Life and Figures on a Cobbled Street.
By the mid-1970s his life had changed dramatically. Rushton was reportedly taken on by an art dealer in Lytham St Annes and exhibitions followed. By 1975, according to his family biography, he was holding sell-out exhibitions and his work was increasingly sought after. His paintings also found their way into Blackpool and Lytham St Annes restaurants through commissions, bringing his work directly into public spaces across the Fylde Coast. Comedian Les Dawson was reportedly among those who owned one of his paintings.
Rushton also moved among some of the more colourful characters associated with post-war Blackpool. Among his acquaintances were Mixie Walsh and Dr Ken McGill, figures connected with the town’s clubs, boxing and nightlife. There are recollections that Rushton either intended to paint or actually completed a picture of Mixie Walsh on Blackpool’s Golden Mile, although no confirmed example of the painting has yet been traced. One surviving painting provides an even more intriguing connection. In 1961 Rushton painted a work entitled Blackpool Mary, which has subsequently appeared at auction. A woman known locally by the same name was part of the Blackpool social circle in which Rushton moved and was associated with Mixie Walsh. Her younger sister was Madge Leadbetter, whose murder in Blackpool on 31 May 1952 became one of the town’s notorious unsolved cases. Whether Rushton’s Blackpool Mary depicts this particular woman has not yet been conclusively established, but the connection is intriguing given Rushton’s links with the same circle of people.
His growing reputation eventually extended beyond the Fylde Coast. His family biography records that Rushton received a prestigious commission in the Middle East which significantly raised the profile and value of his work, although details of the client and painting have yet to be independently established. His transformation from criminal to artist was not entirely straightforward either. According to Zimmerman’s account, Rushton later became involved in an unusual incident after the owner of a transport business troubled by industrial action sought his advice about having a trade union figure assaulted. Rushton reportedly suggested Paul Sykes, the notorious boxer and prisoner whom he had known while serving time. The plan ended badly and Rushton received another 12-month prison sentence.
Despite this further encounter with the law, art remained the part of Rushton’s life for which he increasingly became known. By June 1982 he was sufficiently established locally for the Evening Gazette to photograph him with one of his paintings. The surviving press photograph, taken on 10 June and published on 16 June 1982, described him simply as “self-taught artist Larry Rushton” – a considerable change from the man whose earlier years had been spent involved in crime and escaping from prisons.
Rushton died in 1994, but his work continued to surface in galleries and auction rooms long after his death. Paintings, watercolours and limited-edition prints have appeared across Britain, including portraits, landscapes, clowns and character studies. His association with the Fylde Coast also remained attached to his name. When Gerrards Auction Rooms in St Annes offered two signed oil portraits of elderly men in September 2015, the catalogue specifically described him as a “Blackpool Artist”. Other works have continued to emerge, including The Great Popo, dated 1974, and signed limited-edition prints entitled Tramps.
Larry Rushton therefore occupies an unusual position in Blackpool’s post-war story. He was neither a conventionally trained artist nor simply a local painter. His subjects frequently reflected people who might otherwise have been overlooked – clowns, tramps, elderly characters and ordinary working people – while his own life moved between prisons, crime, Blackpool’s colourful social circles and eventually galleries and private collections. Some of the stories surrounding him remain difficult to independently verify, particularly the more dramatic details of his criminal career, and much of what is known comes from Rushton’s own recollections recorded by his brother-in-law. What can be established is that he became a recognised self-taught painter with strong connections to Blackpool and Lytham St Annes. By 1975, painting had transformed Larry Rushton from a man better acquainted with prison cells into an artist whose work was being exhibited and collected.
Featured image of Larry Rushton provided by Derek Zimmerman but enhanced by Deeper Blue Marketing & Design Ltd
Image of Larry Rushton taken from Derek’s book
