Meeting Mr Lowry Part 2

The Lake, (1937)

In 1939 it was very difficult for art critics to judge just how good Lowry was because his originality and style could not be compared with that of say Paris.  He belonged to no school and his concern was to translate his vision of the industrial landscapes he saw around him every day into paint. 

His more popular landscapes such as "The Pond", (1950), in which one sees a thriving industrial landscape with families out walking together and children playing in the street, portray a very different world to his darker more lonely side, one within which he released very painful emotions.  I for one love these paintings, in particular: "The Lake", (1937) (shown here) painted just after his father died. This is one of his 'black' paintings with gravestones in the foreground, telegraph posts doubling as crosses, death and decay against a backdrop of factory smoke choking the city in which he lived.  Note too the total lack of human life - this was indeed a deep contrast - a time when Lowry felt completely alone.  "Blitzed Site", "An Island", and "River Scene" all from 1942 also represent this releasing of emotions into a very personal view of his world.

 On my recent visit to the Lowry Centre, Salford, I was also surprised to see so many portraits.  There were among these portraits some very disturbing images such as "Head of a Man (with Red Eyes)", (1938) and "Father and Two Sons", (1950).

By 1945 some critics were calling Lowry a master and a poet, whilst others found him naive and primitive.  One particular critic, Michael Ayrton from the Spectator, wrote "...I am inclined to think that some part of Lowry's convention rises out of his inability to draw the human figure."  Lowry had the last laugh on this when his paintings achieved at auction much higher prices than Mr Ayrtons- at one such auction well after Lowry's death a portrait by Ayrton fetched 5,500 pounds against Lowry's "Head of a Boy" which went for 159,000 pounds.

Whether you love or hate Lowry, I challenge you to look deeper into his work as there is something for everyone.  If you are an artist, are you releasing the same level of inner emotions into your canvases?

Meeting Mr Lowry, Part 1

I first met Mr Lowry in about 1986 at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London....by meeting I mean I first saw one of his pictures there!

During my first ever trip to Manchester last month, I stayed in Salford Quays and had the great pleasure of meeting him once again - this time in all his grandeur in The Lowry Centre - a purpose built gallery and arts centre.  It was a memorable visit and one that I shall never forget.  I particularly loved his more haunting images - those of 'Bargoed' his largest canvas (63" x 50"), 'Blitzed Site' (1942), 'Seascape' (1952) and 'Father and Two Sons' (1950). 

 As an avid reader of books, I could not resist the urge to devour Shelley Rohde´s book on Lowry which gets to the very heart of the man, unravelling some (but not all!!) of his eccentric and mysterious character.

Of his now famous industrial scenes, he once said '...my ambition was not to become an artist.  My ambition was to put the industrial scene on the map because nobody had done it...And I thought it a great shame.  But I did not expect to keep on working at it all my life as I have done."

For nearly 30 years - from 1910 to 1939 he painted on without recognition or understanding.  "I´m not an artist," he once said "I`m just a man who paints"

Have you ever met the real Mr Lowry?