The lost computer artwork of a Derby teen has been rediscovered and will go on display in a Derby Computer Museum, the Derby Telegraph reports (as spotted by @fgasking).
Richard McFarlane, the artist, passed away aged 17 in 1991 after being diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy at the age of 5. According to the original article, McFarlane was a huge fan of computers and was a talented Deluxe Paint artist on his Amiga 500, but following his death, his computer was left unused and gathered dust.
It was only when his sister Tamsin saw a new computer museum was opening thirty years later and accepting donations that the family decided to dig it out of storage and give it to its new home.
The museum creator Rob Watson accepted the machine, as well as some posters McFarlane had collected from video games he liked, and after some technical trickery was able to restore the art. He even decided to incorporate it into its very own exhibit within the museum.
According to the Derby Telegraph, the museum put on a private tour of the museum this week for the family (on November 15th), with Richard's relatives also being presented with framed artwork that he had produced.
His sister Tamsin told the Derby Telegraph:
“We knew all the pictures were on there but we hadn’t seen them for 30 years. It was bizarre seeing it all. It’s been lovely and what the guys have done has been amazing because it’s just brought back so many memories. The amount of care and attention that’s been given to his little memorials and everything.”
If you want to see McFarlane's art for yourself, the museum opens to the public on December 3rd to the public. Derby Computer Museum is a registered charity and will operate out of the second and third floors of 3-4 Iron Gate in Derby. It will feature numerous rooms covering Japanese video games, 70s/80s microcomputers, British computer gaming history, PC and Apple exhibits, and computers in music.