Plans to bulldoze a former Salford school to make way for affordable housing have sparked an international diplomatic incident after a fresco by a leading 20th century Hungarian artist was found hidden behind plaster at the site.
The 1954 fresco, The Five Joyful Mysteries of the Virgin’s Rosary, by George Mayer-Marton (pictured), once filled a whole wall in the entrance foyer of St Ambrose Barlow RC School in Swinton, but inexplicably it was decided that the art work should be plastered over and painted with emulsion at some point in the 90s, and the mural has remained hidden since.
The school building has been empty for 14 years since classes moved to a new location in Wardley, and demolition crews were due to move in on July 14th to clear the site, which is owned by Salford City Council.
The great-nephew of the artist, Nick Braithwaite, made an application for the work to be listed, but this was unsuccessful, despite being fast-tracked by Historic England, the body responsible for considering the request.
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With that, it looked like the demolition could commence, but now both the Hungarian Consulate in Manchester and the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest have stepped into the fray.
The Consulate General of Hungary, based on Portland Street, Manchester, have contacted Salford Council requesting that an expert be given access to the site to determine if the mural can be salvaged.
Zsolt Petranyi, deputy scientific director at the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, meanwhile, has sent a letter to the council stating: “George Mayer-Marton’s work is documentary evidence that deserves preservation, not destruction. The Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest – Hungarian National Gallery recommends protecting the work in its original location.”
The council has conceded that it was previously unaware the mural was hidden in the building, and added: “We are currently engaging with the Hungarian Consulate to look at facilitating access to the site for inspection.”
Mayer-Marton, a Hungarian Jew who asked to the UK in 1938 with his wife, is no stranger to art lovers in the North West. Another of his murals, The Crucifixion, can be found inside the Grade II-listed Church of the Holy Rosary at Fitton Hill, Oldham, and was described by Tristan Hunt, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, as a work of “dazzling beauty”.
The artist also produced what one critic described as ‘some of the most elegant incisive graphics in existence’ – St Clare of Assisi raising the Blessed Sacrament, a mosaic above the high altar in St Clare’s RC Church in Victoria Avenue, Blackley, Manchester.
The Victoria Gallery in Liverpool, meanwhile, has 20 of Mayer-Marton’s paintings in its collection, while another of his works, The Pentecost mosaic in Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, was moved there when its original host church was demolished. Mayer Marton ultimately died in Liverpool in 1960.
The artist’s nephew Braithwaite, who is responsible for the artist’s estate and legacy and previously campaigned to save the Oldham mural, has told the council in a letter: “We hope eventually to find a solution which can reconcile the survival of the mural with the Council’s legitimate plans and obligations.
“I say this without recrimination because I understand the Diocese, not the Council, was responsible for covering the mural – an appalling Philistine act – but I must say in no uncertain terms that this is a critical point in the unfortunate history of this artwork, at which the Council in my view has a historic responsibility.”
Most of Mayer-Marton’s life’s work was destroyed in the Blitz, when an incendiary bomb dropped hit his London home. He also lost three family members in the Holocaust.
Braithwaite added: “The Swinton mural is one of four surviving murals by Mayer-Marton and the only complete fresco work. The mural in Oldham was listed at Grade II by Historic England in 2023 after facing demolition by the Diocese of Salford.”
On arrival in England, Mayer-Marton initially worked as a lecturer for CEMA, the predecessor of the Arts Council. In 1952 he was appointed as a lecturer at the Liverpool College of Art. There he established the Department of Mural Art, the first of its kind in the UK.
Image: G Mayer-Marton Estate
