Iconic artworks of the Jolly Fisherman are set to undergo conservation work after suffering discolouration to the paint finish in recent years.

More than 100 years-old, the railway posters were produced by renowned British poster artist John Hassall with the now familiar slogan ‘Skegness is SO bracing’.

Skegness Town Council says an art conservationist told them the darkening of pigments was due to chemicals in the sea air – but local artist and photographer John Byford believes the environment they were displayed in could be partly to blame.

Since 2021 the paintings have been hung in a café at Tower Gardens Pavilion, until a few weeks ago when they were sent to Museum Conservation Services Ltd for analysis.

Jolly the Fisherman mascot with the two John Hassall poster paintings, before they were sent off for conservation work.

placeholder image — Jolly the Fisherman mascot with the two John Hassall poster paintings, before they were sent off for conservation work.

"These aren’t just a couple of old pictures,” said John Byford, “They are works of enormous historical importance and form a major part of our town’s story. We have a responsibility to protect them for future generations.

“As an artist myself, I’ve never felt entirely comfortable with their location in a café. The heat, brightness and fluctuating temperatures do raise questions about whether this was the right environment for such important works of art. I do think it’s important they are on display though.”

The paintings previously underwent conservation work in 2020 to repair a tear on one, restore backing paper, and give them both a clean.

At a meeting of the Town Council on Wednesday, October 21, members voted to go ahead with measures to protect the paintings from future deterioration, but rejected the option to have the paintwork retouched by experts, despite the cost of around £2,500 being the same.

One of the posters before the discolouration to Jolly's scarf, left, and after deterioration to the paint took hold, right. Different lighting conditions when each photo was taken account for much of the other variations in lightness and tone.

Town Clerk, Coun Steve Larner said: “The paintings have now undergone x-rays and inspections to determine the cause of the discolouration and what can be done to remedy the issue.

"The analysis found chemicals you wouldn’t find in paint nowadays – with mercury in the red paint which has reacted to chloride. The conservationist said, with Skegness being a seaside town there is more chloride in the air which has reacted with this pigment and caused it to darken. The two paintings were made 20 years’ apart, so the darkening is worse on one, while the other is less obvious.

"It was accepted at the meeting that they are aging, and that it would be better to preserve them as they are, rather than overlay the original artwork with more paint."

He said the new frames would be fitted with nano silver particles and a chemical paper backing acting as ‘chemical scavengers’ to absorb chloride, and sealed with aluminium tape.

"We don’t have a museum-like facilities in Skegness with special air conditioning and humidity control, so we are adding levels of protection to the frames themselves, to make a better environment for the paintings that way,” Coun Larner added.

"We don’t want to just hide them away in a safe away from public view, we want them to be on display where residents and visitors can see them, so they will be coming back to the Pavilion when the work is complete. Obviously we will keep an eye on them to ensure no further discolouration occurs."