Museum marks Mental Health Week, celebrating landscape artist Reginald Aspinwall

By John Freeman on May 14, 2025

Artist Reginald Aspinwall (1855-1921) may be a name unfamiliar to many, but he has over 70 of his paintings in British public collections, including several at the Harris Museum & Art Gallery in Preston, Lancashire, and 40 paintings held by Lancaster City Museum. But his later life was very troubled.

This Mental Health Awareness Week, Lancaster City Museum has been looking at his life and work, an artist who endured the latter part of his life with challenging mental health issues and alcohol addiction.

*Reginald Aspinwall (1858–1921), painted by Joseph Cross (1851–1897)| Lancaster Maritime Museum*

Born in Preston in 1855, the son of the Editor of the Preston Guardian, Aspinwall moved to Lancaster in the 1870s to study art. A prolific artist in oils and watercolours, he took inspiration from nature; his work includes paintings of Morecambe Bay, Caton, Heysham and Halton, as well as local countryside and further afield, such as Rye and the Highlands of Scotland.

Lancaster City Museums hold several works by Reginald Aspinwall in the collection, including this 1908 oil painting of Grassyard Park, which formed part of the land belonging to Grassyard Hall (later Gresgarth Hall) in Caton. It shows his skill in capturing the serenity of the Lune Valley

*Sunderland Point by Reginald Aspinwall (1858–1921), on display at the Judges’ Lodgings, Lancaster*

Aspinwall saw beauty in the everyday, and his work was admired across the art world, “a genius in his own field” according to the Lancashire Daily Post, which went on to say that he would paint like a man possessed but only when he was in the mood or needed money. He would often not sign his work, selling a painting for £1. If the buyer asked him to sign it, he would charge £5 for the signature.

*“Heysham Shore” by Reginald Aspinwall (1858–1921), held by the the Maritime Museum, Lancaster*

*“The Light of an October Evening, Bolton-le-Sands” by Reginald Aspinwall, held by Harris Museum & Art Gallery in Preston, Lancashire*

Anyone looking at his paintings, however, will see such a varied quality in his art as the storm clouds of addiction began to gather and erode his wonderful talent.

Sadly, the last few years of his life were marked by financial hardship. In one letter to friend and fellow artist Hugh Scott, he wrote, “I do hope that you will bring me some money tomorrow as I have been without food for the last two days”. His impoverished state finally forced him into the Lancaster Union Workhouse.

In 1920 he was moved to Lancaster Moor Hospital, the County Asylum, where he died the following year. With no money left to his name, his friends clubbed together to pay for his funeral, ensuring that he had a dignified send-off. He was buried in the Lancaster Cemetery.

It was noted in the press at the time that “The spirit which painted ‘The Ever Restless Sea’ is now at rest”.

• Follow Lancaster City Museums on Facebook | Web: lancaster.gov.uk/sites/museums

Mental Health Awareness Week

Since 2001, the Mental Health Foundation has been leading Mental Health Awareness Week – bringing the UK together to focus on getting good mental health. This year, the week takes place from 12th to 18 May 2025 and the theme is ‘community’.

The Foundation want to use this Mental Health Awareness Week to celebrate the power and importance of community.

“Being part of a safe, positive community is vital for our mental health and wellbeing,” the organisation notes. “We thrive when we have strong connections with other people and supportive communities that remind us, we are not alone. Communities can provide a sense of belonging, safety, support in hard times, and give us a sense purpose.”

If you are struggling with mental health or addiction, there are lots of support organisations out there. Don’t ever hold back on asking for help.

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.