Village Gallery: Yorkshire art gallery and shop set up by owner who worked in IT for 30 years to close permanently

But the end of the lease has sparked a difficult decision for the 66-year-old and, together with his wife Helen, he has decided to close the doors for good.

Before the gallery closes on April 15, Mr and Mrs Main have invited 10 artists who have previously exhibited at the gallery for an aptly titled display The Curtain Descends.

There will be a range of styles, disciplines and media on show including watercolours by Lynda Heaton, Jean Luce and Suzanne McQuade; oils and acrylics by Paul Blackwell, Julie Lightburn, Malcolm Ludvigsen, Anne Thornhill and Hilary Thorpe.

Pastels by Allen Humphries lino and wood cut prints by Michael Atkin also form part of the exhibition.

Mr Main said: “When the lease came up for renewal - well I’m at an age now where the Government have given me a bus pass and I started thinking ‘do I want to do this for another five years?’

“I decided the time was right to step back a bit. But I can’t give up completely. That’s not in my nature.”

Mr Main won’t be giving up on the art trade all together, and plans to continue selling his collection of Lalique at the nearby Antiques Centre on Stonegate.

But it will mean York has one less place for local artists to share their work.

“When I took on the shop, I had this enormous space to use and that’s when I decided to host exhibitions for artists if I could find them.

“But it turns out that York has such a rich supply of artists, it was never a problem for me to find them for exhibitions.

“Typically, I’d put in a single artist at a time and give them six weeks, and I think the current exhibition is the 44th.

“I’m going to miss the shop like crazy. It’s been five days a week for five-and-a-half years, it’s been my life.”

But it hasn’t been Mr Main’s entire life, as he explained - he sees the gallery as his “third phase” following a long career in IT, followed by a passion for collecting.

“I came to art very late in life, actually. I worked in IT for 34 years and took early retirement at 51, and people said ‘what are you going to do?’

“I did little bits of buying and selling on eBay and then car boot sales - that’s when I started getting a real passion for certain bits of pottery and pieces of art.

“And then when I found the shop which had all this extra space – that’s what triggered my love of the artwork, and having local artists exhibit here.”

“The Curtain Descends” runs until Saturday April 15.