L. S. Lowry

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Lowry, L. S. ( Laurence Stephen Lowry) (1887–1976). British painter. He lived all his life in or near Manchester and worked as a rent collector and clerk for a property company until he retired (as chief cashier) in 1952. His painting was done mainly at night after his day's work, but he was not a naive painter, having studied intermittently at art schools from 1905 to 1925. The most important of his teachers—at Manchester School of Art—was Adolphe Valette (1876–1942), a French painter who settled in Manchester in 1905 and whose work includes some memorably atmospheric views of the city. Lowry, too, concentrated on urban subjects, but his style was very different to Valette's and much more in the tradition of certain painters of the Camden Town Group. His most characteristic pictures feature firmly drawn backgrounds of industrial buildings, often bathed in a white haze, against which groups or crowds of figures, painted in his distinctive stick-like manner, move about their affairs. There is sometimes an element of humour in Lowry's work, but the prevailing feeling is generally what Sir John Rothenstein calls ‘a kind of gloomy lyricism’ ( Lowry was a solitary character and said ‘Had I not been lonely I should not have seen what I did'). Many of his paintings record his immediate surroundings, but others are semi-imaginary views, such as The Pond (Tate Gallery, London, 1950), one of his largest and most ambitious works. Mervyn Levy, the leading scholar of Lowry's work, writes of this picture: ‘This is perhaps the Elysium of the artist's dream; the pure poetry of the industrial landscape—miraculous and shining. People and animals, buildings and smoking stacks, the boats bobbing on the pond, and high up, the most haunting of all the artist's grass-root images—the Stockport Viaduct—combine in a glorious harmony.’

Lowry's first one-man exhibition, at the Reid & Lefevre Gallery, London, in 1939, established his name outside his home area for the first time, and his reputation steadily increased (particularly after a television documentary on him in 1957), leading to a large retrospective exhibition arranged by the Arts Council in 1966 (it was shown at the Tate Gallery, London, and elsewhere). By this time he was turning from industrial subjects to landscapes and seascapes. He also occasionally painted portraits (there is a self-portrait, 1938, in the Lowry arts centre, Salford). In spite of his growing fame, he continued to lead a spartan life and he turned down a knighthood and other honours (although he did accept some awards, including honorary doctorates from three universities).

In 1976, a few months after Lowry's death, a comprehensive retrospective exhibition of his work at the Royal Academy brought considerable divergence of opinion among critics. Some thought of him as a great artist with an important original vision. Others represented him as a very minor talent, although interesting as a social commentator. What is certain is that his work has struck a chord with the general public; the 1976 exhibition broke attendance records, and two years later Lowry had the very dubious distinction of becoming the only 20th-century painter to be the subject of a number-one hit record, the execrable ‘Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs’ by the one-hit wonders Brian and Michael. The biggest collection of Lowry's work is in the Lowry, an arts centre in Salford opened in 2000, and he is represented in many other public collections, including the City Art Gallery, Manchester.

Lowry, L. S. ( Laurence Stephen Lowry) (b Stretford, Lancashire [now Greater Manchester], 1 Nov. 1887; d Glossop, Derbyshire, 23 Feb. 1976). British painter. He lived all his life in or near Manchester (mainly in Salford) and worked as a rent collector and clerk for a property company until he retired in 1952. His painting was done mainly at night after his day's work, but he was not a naive painter, having studied intermittently at art schools from 1905 to 1925. The most important of his teachers—at Manchester School of Art—was Adolphe Valette (1876–1942), a French painter who settled in Manchester in 1905 and whose work includes some memorably atmospheric views of the city. Lowry, too, concentrated on urban subjects, but his style was very different from Valette's and much more in the tradition of certain painters of the Camden Town Group. His most characteristic pictures feature firmly drawn backgrounds of industrial buildings, often bathed in a white haze, against which groups or crowds of figures, painted in his distinctive sticklike manner, move about their affairs. Many of them record his immediate surroundings, but others are semi-imaginary views. There is sometimes an element of humour, but the prevailing feeling is generally what Sir John Rothenstein calls ‘a kind of gloomy lyricism’ (Lowry was a solitary character and said, ‘Had I not been lonely I should not have seen what I did’). His first one-man exhibition, at the Reid and Lefevre Gallery, London, in 1939, established his name outside his home area for the first time, and his reputation steadily increased thereafter, although he continued to lead a spartan life. In 1976, a few months after his death, a comprehensive retrospective exhibition of his work at the Royal Academy brought considerable divergence of opinion among critics. Some thought of him as a great artist with an important original vision. Others represented him as a very minor talent, although interesting as a social commentator. The best collection of his work is in the Lowry, a large arts centre that opened in Salford in 2000.

Lowry, L. S. ( Laurence Stephen) (1887–1976). British painter. He lived all his life in or near Manchester (mainly in Salford) and worked as a rent collector and clerk for a property company until he retired in 1952. His painting was done mainly at night after his day's work, but he was not a naive painter, having studied intermittently at art schools from 1905 to 1925. The most important of his teachers—at Manchester School of Art—was Adolphe Valette (1876–1942), a French painter who settled in Manchester in 1905 and whose work includes some memorably atmospheric views of the city. Lowry, too, concentrated on urban subjects, but his style was very different to Valette's and much more in the tradition of certain painters of the Camden Town Group. His most characteristic pictures feature firmly drawn backgrounds of industrial buildings, often bathed in a white haze, against which groups or crowds of figures, painted in his distinctive stick-like manner, move about their affairs. Many of them record his immediate surroundings, but others are semi-imaginary views. There is sometimes an element of humour, but the prevailing feeling is generally what Sir John Rothenstein calls ‘a kind of gloomy lyricism’ (Lowry was a solitary character and said, ‘Had I not been lonely I should not have seen what I did’). His first one-man exhibition, at the Reid and Lefevre Gallery, London, in 1939, established his name outside his home area for the first time, and his reputation steadily increased thereafter, although he continued to lead a spartan life. In 1976, a few months after his death, a comprehensive retrospective exhibition of his work at the Royal Academy brought considerable divergence of opinion among critics. Some thought of him as a great artist with an important original vision. Others represented him as a very minor talent, although interesting as a social commentator. The best collection of his work is in the Lowry, a large arts centre that opened in Salford in 2000.