Charlie Rogers

The catalogue

The work

Charlie created thousands of paintings and sketches.

1960s

The cobbled back lane of Cotfield Street seen from above: yard walls and outhouses, chimney stacks, a telegraph pole, and a poster on the gable end at right.

Back Cotfield Street, Gateshead

1964 · Pen and wash

A hotel bedroom drawn in heavy black line with yellow wash: an iron bedstead, a radiator, an inscribed address.

His hotel room, Paris

1966 · Watercolour

The Joke Shop in the Railway Quarter, Gateshead, under a great railway arch, shopfronts in red and yellow, figures sheltering.

The Joke Shop, Gateshead-on-Tyne

1966 · Watercolour and pen

The Hoppings funfair on Newcastle Town Moor: a big wheel, a steam engine and red lorries under a grey sky.

Town Moor, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

1966 · Watercolour

Charlie's father, Pop, seated at a table crowded with bottles and ornaments, in a flat cap.

Pop

1967 · Watercolour

A snowy school yard with children at play below terraced houses and a church, in a dark frame.

Lady Vernon School Yard

1968 · Oil on paper

1970s

Bensham Road in deep snow under a heavy blue night sky, a woman pushing a pram past lit shopfronts.

Bensham Road, Gateshead

1970 · Watercolour

A brass band and a crowd in caps gathered in a snowy Gateshead street, a red banner raised, a pram at right.

Street Meeting with Snow, Gateshead

1972 · Watercolour

Eight men in caps and coats seated along a park bench, a black dog in front of them.

The Men on the Seats

1973 · Oil

Pencil sketch of the front of 239 Westbourne Avenue: the bay window at left, the front door under its stone lintel, a drainpipe between them, and the gate posts and railings in the foreground.

239 Westbourne Avenue, Gateshead

1974 · Pencil

Market stalls and crowds in the Bigg Market, Newcastle, a delivery van among the barrows, tall stone frontages behind.

Bigg Market, Newcastle-on-Tyne

1975 · Watercolour

Four adjoining front doors in a brick terrace, green, red and brown, with worn stone steps.

Four Doors at School Street, Gateshead

1977 · Oil on board

The High Level Café on Wellington Street, known locally as Pot Pie Bob’s, its blue shopfront set into a stone railway arch, a red pillar box at right.

Pot Pie Bob’s, Wellington Street, Gateshead

1977 · Watercolour

A statue group on a pediment above an arched gateway on the Newcastle Quayside, figures at the foot.

Fish Market, Quayside, Newcastle

1979 · Watercolour and pen

1980s

A house hung with red creeper beside a broach spire and gabled transept, a figure in blue at the gate.

St Cuthbert’s Church, Bensham

1980 · Oil on board

A snow-covered back lane between brick terraces, a church spire beyond.

Third Street, Back Lane, Bensham, Gateshead

1980 · Oil on paper

A stone church with a slender spire across a snowy road under a clear blue sky.

St Cuthbert’s Church, Gateshead-on-Tyne

1982 · Oil on board

The Gateshead Cenotaph in oil, a soldier in its niche, a lamp standard and a figure walking a black dog.

The Cenotaph, Gateshead

1983 · Oil on paper

The Quayside Sunday market seen from above, stalls and crowds along the river, with an inset of a pavement artist.

Quayside, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Sunday

1987 · Watercolour

1990s

Grey's Monument in snow, the domed curve of Grey Street behind, small figures crossing the square.

The Monument with Snow, Newcastle-on-Tyne

1996 · Watercolour

The Bridge Hotel in Newcastle beside a stone tower, the arch of the Tyne Bridge behind.

Bridge Hotel, Newcastle-on-Tyne

1997 · Watercolour

2000s

A pencil sketch of figures in Saltwell Park, a child on a ball, adults standing in conversation.

Saltwell Park, 23 April 2003

2003 · Pencil sketch

A run of shopfronts on Gateshead High Street in watercolour and pen, flags above the roofline.

High Street Shops, Gateshead-on-Tyne

2005 · Watercolour

Two spectators in coats and hats watching a match, in watercolour, inscribed and dated.

Spectators, Chester Moor

2008 · Watercolour

2010s

Crowds gathered at the Gateshead Cenotaph for Remembrance Sunday, a church tower beyond.

At the Cenotaph, Gateshead, Remembrance Sunday

2010 · Watercolour

The Central Bar, a tall wedge-shaped Victorian pub on a corner, drawn in pen with watercolour.

The Central Bar, Gateshead

2010 · Watercolour and pen

The portico of the Shipley Art Gallery with paired columns, a red telephone box and figures at the railings.

Shipley Art Gallery

2011 · Watercolour

Saltwell Towers in watercolour: a slate-spired corner tower and crenellated red brick, a bare tree in early leaf.

Saltwell Towers, Gateshead-on-Tyne

2017 · Watercolour

The Cenotaph at Shipcote in snow and bare trees, a parade passing, painted at eighty-eight.

Cenotaph at Shipcote, Gateshead-on-Tyne

2018 · Watercolour

Undated

Cotfield Street in snow, a corner shop with a green window, a dark house closing the street, smoking chimneys.

Cotfield Street, Bensham

Undated · Oil on board

Cotfield Street in watercolour: Taits corner shop at left, terraced houses running uphill, a man walking a dog.

Cotfield Street, Bensham, Gateshead-on-Tyne

Undated · Watercolour

By chapter

The book’s chapters

The work as the book arranges it. Each chapter shows its catalogued paintings first, then the untitled plates it reproduces.

  1. Charlie's GatesheadThe back lanes, corner shops, churches and demolition scenes of the town where he lived and worked.20 catalogued59 untitled
  2. NewcastleAcross the river: the Quayside Sunday market, the bridges, the Bigg Market and the boats on the Tyne.5 catalogued26 untitled
  3. Paris and LondonParis was his favourite city, visited more than ten times from 1964. London brought four Royal Academy summer shows.1 catalogued10 untitled
  4. Beyond TynesideJersey, Durham, the Dales and the coast, painted on his travels.7 untitled
  5. FamilyPop with his bottle of Newcastle Brown, Ann, Charlie Junior, and Bruce the black dog who recurs across the catalogue.1 catalogued8 untitled
  6. ImageryNocturnes, snow scenes, churches and pubs, the recurring moods of his work.1 catalogued18 untitled
  7. CharactersRag-and-bone men, street traders and the Tyneside characters who filled his streets.16 untitled
  8. Observations of peopleBar scenes, conversations, readers and quiet figures caught mid-thought.3 catalogued20 untitled
  9. Interior scenesDomestic rooms and kitchens, the indoor counterpoint to the streets.6 untitled
  10. Industrial scenesThe working river and the industry that shaped the region.4 untitled