00:00We had El Major, one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, that painted for his
00:16entire life the place where he was born.
00:21A man needn't move from his village. All the beauty, and all the life, and all the power
00:31is in his own village.
00:34If something could happen at Hare Hall, for my father, he would actually be really happy
00:45with that. He thought this should be on view to the public, and he must have had trust
00:51that somehow, when he died, they would be looked after. He just used to say things like,
00:59it will happen, it will happen. And it was only me, because I'm an only child. I've got
01:07to protect these.
01:10Gosh, I was so nervous of meeting them. They're always dressed in black, and they're both
01:20named Al, and they like to be thought of as one artist. Well, I just thought, I just went,
01:27what on earth am I going to say to somebody like that? But I soon found they were lovely,
01:34and that they really loved my father's works.
01:43Oh, it was fantastic. I thought, wow, that would be sort of a rough justice, that his
01:49work would then be in there, because of him being kept out of Hare Hall. I think he felt
01:55totally excluded from Hare Hall and the lovely grounds around. Oh, it was a sort of bubbling
02:04up inside, you know, when you feel a little bit queasy, that you think, this must happen,
02:09this must happen. But we didn't know till recently, you see.
02:17They were hammering on the door, and ringing the bell as well, you know. And I thought,
02:21what on earth? And they said, we've got it, Mary, we've got it. I was just like, f***.
02:29I was actually really moved. Yeah, we were crying.
02:35Yeah. It's one of those days of your life, isn't it? Yeah. Beautiful. And I was so glad,
02:44you know, in a way, I'd been with them when we had the message. And I felt part of it
02:50as well, you know. So, yeah. Got the answer, you know. Oh, dear. It opened up the future,
02:59didn't it? Completely opened up a different future. Twenty-something years since my father
03:06died, and I'd written a few books on him and things and tried to just tell people how wonderful
03:13the pictures were. And that work had all come to fruition. And I could depend on other people,
03:21I think, to carry it forward too, because I'm not young anymore. It will go on now,
03:27you know. But then you realise the work really starts now. Different work. And of course,
03:33the two owls are working 24 hours a day. I don't know they're doing it.
03:41This is one of his industrial scenes here. Amazing, incredible body of work. Worth about
03:46£200 million. And that's going to be on loan to the hall. So, we'll be able to share that
03:52with the public again. One of my friends actually said, those two owls are like two
03:59angels who've come to help you. They've been sent to help you. You've struggled for a long
04:04time now, and your father struggled. And he said, two angels have now been sent, you know.
04:10They're sitting right there, I think you've met them. And look at them, yeah. I don't
04:14know. That was absolutely amazing. It's true, isn't it? It is true. Absolutely true.
04:44.
Comments