Children in the Street

Throughout the 1960s, Lowry's work changed emphasis, and by now his figure groups are the subject of his paintings. The urban landscape becomes just a frame around the people who stand confidently in the centre of his canvases, with the side or edge of a building used to position them, and the single line of a pavement to ground them. These people now represent the urban scene, and the mood is effortlessly conveyed to the viewer by the flick of a brush, or in the position of their conversational groups. Lowry wrote 'I see lots of people everywhere, myself, one lot going one way and the other lot going the opposite way as a rule' (see S. Rohde, L.S. Lowry, A Biography, Salford, 1999, p. 318).

Lowry often favoured a particular type of figure, and some regular characters appear in the present work. The girl dressed in the red jumper, the youth with the large mop of hair, and the three girls who hold hands in a row; they have become a kind of shorthand for the people that Lowry saw around him, and they capture the attention of the viewer and give a sense of familiarity. However, the startling colours or physical attributes never fail to capture the imagination, and the inclusion of an outsized dog provides a comic touch, as it appears to hold the full attention of its owner. In this group of conversational figures, who appear before us in a kind of theatrical chorus line, Lowry presents a focused vignette of city life in all its daily bustle.