THE work of North-East artist James Clark - who created the 1914 Bombardment of the Hartlepools - has gone on display.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth, Hartlepool Art Gallery opened an exhibition on Saturday (Apr 19), showing more than 50 of his paintings, drawings and sketchbooks.

Some are on loan from his family and other galleries, including the bombardment painting and St Hilda At Hartlepool, which was painted in 1925.

Born in Albert Street, Hartlepool, in 1858, James Clark showed an early talent for art, so his father paid for him to have watercolour lessons.

In 1877 he moved to London, where he set out to develop his skills, which eventually took him to Paris, where he and his wife - his Hartlepool childhood sweetheart Elizabeth Hunter - later settled.

However, from 1884 they spent most of their time in London, but Clark maintained a strong connection with Hartlepool, even visiting the town days after the 1914 naval bombardment by the Germans to make sketches for a full-scale painting commemorating the event.

Charlotte Taylor, Hartlepool Council's collections manager, said: "James Clark was a very prolific artist and his work is displayed in a number of museums and galleries around the country.

"His talents also extended beyond normal paintings to stained glass and frescoes in churches, so he was certainly a very versatile artist.

"Despite this, it's still very surprising that he is not more widely known and we hope that this exhibition will introduce his work to a much larger audience."

The display will run until June 1. Hartlepool Art Gallery, on Church Squarem Church Street, is open Tuesdays to Saturdays 10am to 5.30pm and Sundays 2pm to 5pm. Admission is free.

For more information, call 01429-869706.