- 43
Laurence Stephen Lowry, R.A.
Description
- Laurence Stephen Lowry, R.A.
- A Protest March
- signed and dated 1959
- oil on canvas
- 61 by 51cm.; 24 by 20in.
Provenance
Condition
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Catalogue Note
Any sort of street gathering was a draw for Lowry, and throughout his painting career we find him presenting us with images of both the spontaneous event, such as someone arrested, taken ill or a queue outside a shop, and the more organized gathering. Indeed it is such organized subjects that provided him with some of his most fertile material, such as The Prayer Meeting (Private Collection), The Procession (Oldham Art Gallery) or VE Day (Glasgow Art Galleries and Museums). The Whit Walks, annual events that were popular in many industrial areas but especially in and around Manchester, provided Lowry with some wonderful subject matter, but these paintings of planned events often incorporate a small element of gentle mockery.
A Protest March is unusual in that it, as the title makes clear, has a political element. Lowry very rarely ventures into any sort of political statement but in A Protest March it is hard to avoid sensing that he is offering a certain critique of this event, perhaps slightly mocking but also aware of the potentially threatening aspect of such a gathering. Unusually, Lowry has presented the marching figures in contemporary dress, whilst the street down which they process is filled with locals dressed exactly as the artist had been presenting his figures for decades. This immediately jarring contrast and sense of intrusion is further heightened by the acute observations which appear as one peruses the group. In the centre of the front row is a figure who appears to conform to the type of the well-intentioned intellectual supporter of the cause, whilst to his left we see the unmistakeable swagger and menace of the thug. Moving back through the rows of marchers, it is remarkable how Lowry manages to suggest the range of ages and backgrounds of the figures, both male and female. We can safely say that few of these marchers are local. Their bearing varies too, from the rather sanctimonious-looking pose of the woman in red in the third row, to some of those at the back who seem to be treating the whole thing as a bit of a day out. The steep slope of the street whose front doors open straight onto the road, and the lack of any sky or vista adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere, and in concert with our own viewpoint of the demonstration heading directly at us, all help to heighten the contrast between the locals and the marchers.
Although Lowry would have been familiar with marching crowds, from the union marches of the Depression to the Whit Walks, A Protest March has a very contemporary feel to it, and perhaps reflects some element of Britain in 1959. This was at the very beginning of the nuclear disarmament debate, and documentary films such as March to Aldermaston of 1958 and news reel footage, such as the British Pathe film of a pre-CND march through London in 1959 certainly resonate with similar elements to those we see in this painting. Typically, Lowry has removed any distinguishing features which might give a clue to the identity of the protestors, rather allowing his own street figures to offer judgement on their actions. Despite the obvious fervour of the marchers for their cause, the locals seem magnificently disinterested, the children only momentarily curious. In fact the poor marchers seem to have only succeeded in stirring nothing more than passing interest in the dogs in the street.