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Lot Essay
‘Beauty may be of many kinds. The work of Mr. L .S. Lowry has qualities that make it difficult to forget. It is penetrative, incisive, stinging, and may even be sarcastic (…). The aim of the artist seems to be that of telling this stark England what is looks like, deliberately, sternly, without mitigation, but without, as one can testify, exaggeration.’ (J. Stephens, The Studio, vol. 95, no. 48, January 1928, quoted in T.J. Clark and A.M. Wagner, Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life, Tate, 2013, pp. 24-25).
Written by a contemporary of Lowry, Jessica Stephens’ words reinforce the common perception that the artist is best defined as a pictorial novelist whose art, in its implications, is comparable to the novels of Dickens or Balzac. His works act not only as windows into life during the Depression in England, but also as a social commentary on the effects this environment had on the people who inhabited it. Though Lowry’s works were not intended as forceful protests against the Industrial Revolution, a sense of melancholy and loneliness seems to prevail. Lowry found his subject matters in scenes that others dismissed as ugly or unworthy of attention and presented these with austere lucidity, thus the beauty in his oeuvre emanates from his honesty and structural clarity.
Canal Scene near Accrington (1939) embodies many of Lowry’s artistic efforts that defined his creative production throughout his career. This particular painting shows people at work on a canal, unloading or loading large beams of wood from their boat in a small area north of Manchester close to Blackburn. In the background more industrial boats can be seen as well as a clock tower and large buildings that could be factories. Materials of labour are scattered around the composition - piles of wood or metal can be found in every corner. Even though this certainly describes what is happening in the painting, it is not what Lowry gives most importance to. His compositions are generally balanced both in colour and structure but perhaps most of all characterized by the organized positioning of architectural structures. A reoccurrence in many of Lowry’s paintings is his distinctive way of depicting the insignificance of people in their setting which he heightens by placing his figures against imposing buildings. The effect of this is to dwarf their presence even more. As they scuttle in and out of his scenes, frozen in rigid poses for a brief moment, one is overwhelmed by the sense of transience juxtaposed with permanence. The man-made structures that define the industrial landscapes remain static and firm – not crippled by nature or life as man is. The piece presented here is an emphatic example of this contrast as the sheer scale of the prominent red building occupying the centre of the canvas holds the viewers’ attention and distracts them from the presence of the men in the foreground. Furthermore, the group of figures beside the colossal building is barely distinguishable at first glance.
Many of Lowry’s works depict vast industrial scenes from high vantage points such as Industrial Landscape (1944) and the format of these paintings further accentuates the smallness of Man. Canal Scene near Accrington, though far more focused, retains this notion. The expanse of the engineering and manufacture has come at the expense of the human and the individual; all of the people shown here have lost their individuality. Lowry’s painterly style arguably highlights this all the more. Often described as 'primitive' or 'naïve', his flattened surfaces, heavy outlines and use of black, simplify his figures whilst giving prominence to the rigid, built structures instead.
Lowry has frequently been described as a painter of loneliness. Though many of his paintings including Canal Scene near Accrington show groups of people at work or hovering together in clusters, there is a distinct lack of sentimentality, perhaps reflecting the artist’s own detachment. The gray industrial haze that substitutes weather effects and shrouds his works in a uniform atmospheric gloom contributes to this perception. Like the Impressionists before him, Lowry was a flaneur in many ways. He was an observer of people, of the changing landscapes around him and of life itself. While the French 19th century painters presented large boulevards and people of leisure, Lowry illustrated the street scenes in 20th century Britain, but always as a spectator rather than a participator. As a viewer of his works, one is given a unique and unadulterated insight into his world.
‘My ambition was to put the industrial scene on the map because nobody had done it, nobody had done it seriously’ (M. Howard, 2000, p. 81: a sentence from the Cotton and Mullineux tape quoted in T.J. Clark and A.M. Wagner, Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life, Tate, 2013, p. 37). Remaining true to his words throughout his artistic career, Lowry achieved his aim both literally by specifying exact locations in his paintings’ titles, but also powerfully through his bold style, individuality and honesty.
Written by a contemporary of Lowry, Jessica Stephens’ words reinforce the common perception that the artist is best defined as a pictorial novelist whose art, in its implications, is comparable to the novels of Dickens or Balzac. His works act not only as windows into life during the Depression in England, but also as a social commentary on the effects this environment had on the people who inhabited it. Though Lowry’s works were not intended as forceful protests against the Industrial Revolution, a sense of melancholy and loneliness seems to prevail. Lowry found his subject matters in scenes that others dismissed as ugly or unworthy of attention and presented these with austere lucidity, thus the beauty in his oeuvre emanates from his honesty and structural clarity.
Canal Scene near Accrington (1939) embodies many of Lowry’s artistic efforts that defined his creative production throughout his career. This particular painting shows people at work on a canal, unloading or loading large beams of wood from their boat in a small area north of Manchester close to Blackburn. In the background more industrial boats can be seen as well as a clock tower and large buildings that could be factories. Materials of labour are scattered around the composition - piles of wood or metal can be found in every corner. Even though this certainly describes what is happening in the painting, it is not what Lowry gives most importance to. His compositions are generally balanced both in colour and structure but perhaps most of all characterized by the organized positioning of architectural structures. A reoccurrence in many of Lowry’s paintings is his distinctive way of depicting the insignificance of people in their setting which he heightens by placing his figures against imposing buildings. The effect of this is to dwarf their presence even more. As they scuttle in and out of his scenes, frozen in rigid poses for a brief moment, one is overwhelmed by the sense of transience juxtaposed with permanence. The man-made structures that define the industrial landscapes remain static and firm – not crippled by nature or life as man is. The piece presented here is an emphatic example of this contrast as the sheer scale of the prominent red building occupying the centre of the canvas holds the viewers’ attention and distracts them from the presence of the men in the foreground. Furthermore, the group of figures beside the colossal building is barely distinguishable at first glance.
Many of Lowry’s works depict vast industrial scenes from high vantage points such as Industrial Landscape (1944) and the format of these paintings further accentuates the smallness of Man. Canal Scene near Accrington, though far more focused, retains this notion. The expanse of the engineering and manufacture has come at the expense of the human and the individual; all of the people shown here have lost their individuality. Lowry’s painterly style arguably highlights this all the more. Often described as 'primitive' or 'naïve', his flattened surfaces, heavy outlines and use of black, simplify his figures whilst giving prominence to the rigid, built structures instead.
Lowry has frequently been described as a painter of loneliness. Though many of his paintings including Canal Scene near Accrington show groups of people at work or hovering together in clusters, there is a distinct lack of sentimentality, perhaps reflecting the artist’s own detachment. The gray industrial haze that substitutes weather effects and shrouds his works in a uniform atmospheric gloom contributes to this perception. Like the Impressionists before him, Lowry was a flaneur in many ways. He was an observer of people, of the changing landscapes around him and of life itself. While the French 19th century painters presented large boulevards and people of leisure, Lowry illustrated the street scenes in 20th century Britain, but always as a spectator rather than a participator. As a viewer of his works, one is given a unique and unadulterated insight into his world.
‘My ambition was to put the industrial scene on the map because nobody had done it, nobody had done it seriously’ (M. Howard, 2000, p. 81: a sentence from the Cotton and Mullineux tape quoted in T.J. Clark and A.M. Wagner, Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life, Tate, 2013, p. 37). Remaining true to his words throughout his artistic career, Lowry achieved his aim both literally by specifying exact locations in his paintings’ titles, but also powerfully through his bold style, individuality and honesty.