- 12
Laurence Stephen Lowry, R.A.
Description
- Laurence Stephen Lowry, R.A.
- The Orator
- signed and dated 1950
- oil on canvas
- 50.5 by 61cm.; 20 by 24in.
Provenance
Sale, Sotheby's London, 4th November 1992, lot 83A, where acquired by the late owner
Literature
Shelley Rohde, The Lowry Lexicon, The Lowry Centre Ltd, Salford, 2001, illustrated p.87 (as Street Trader);
T.G. Rosenthal, L.S. Lowry, The Art and the Artist, Unicorn Press, Norwich, 2010, illustrated p.43 (as The Election).
Condition
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
Catalogue Note
The nature of the assembly that Lowry is observing here is difficult to determine and even the title is ambiguous, leaving one unsure as to whether this is a religious or political orator. The central figures are different in appearance to the rest of the crowd: the main orator, one of Lowry’s rare depictions of a man of African or Asian descent, and the figure next to him, oddly attired in plus-fours and a flat cap, seem reminiscent of two speakers seen in the distance of an earlier work, The Prayer Meeting (1944, Private Collection), which might suggest a religious meeting. However, The Orator has also been titled The Street Trader and The Election, thus implying a political interpretation (see T.G. Rosenthal, L.S. Lowry: The Art and the Artist, Unicorn Press, Norwich, 2010, p.42). Lowry’s titles were often allocated later and sometimes changed. In some senses, though, the cause of this gathering is academic: Lowry’s concern was less the narrative of this event – that is left to the viewer’s imagination – and more the depiction of individual characters.
It is through Lowry's masterful compositional and painting techniques that we become absorbed in the crowd. Unusually for Lowry, the key subject is the obvious focus of the composition. In Election Time (lot 4) or Punch and Judy (lot 8), the subject has to be sought out by the viewer and is placed not at the centre, but at the back of the composition. Here, the orator’s raised left hand is perhaps the most arresting gesture in the painting, at once drawing our eyes, along with all those of his spectators, to the speaker as he steps from his soapbox: it is a dramatic moment. The crowd lend the painting its circular structure, framing the titular orator and presenting a great variety of personalities. The deep blue suits on the periphery lighten towards the centre, creating a sense of perspective and depth. Importantly, each member of the crowd is resolutely individual. They mostly appear captivated by the speaker, bent forward to catch his every word (as in Punch and Judy, lot 8), standing on raised ground for a clearer view. Lowry’s power of paint application is crucial to this effect: the thick impasto of the people’s faces with piercing black pupils are emphasised by carving through the paint layers to expose the canvas and allow the eyes to stand out prominently and focus on the speaker.
Lowry has presented a panorama of individual responses to the speech: some intent, some glum, some confused, some indifferent, a few who have lost interest altogether, like the blue-suited man who winds his way against the crowd and the figures at the lower left who smirk and turn to leave. It is with a great eye for the emotions of the crowd, that Lowry has here captured the essence and diversity of a small gathering, and presented a pictorial essay on the way people gather together to listen.