Laurence Stephen Lowry, R.A.

The Artist, from whom acquired by Alex. Reid and Lefevre Ltd, London
Acquired from the above by Grove Fine Art, Manchester, 23rd May 1973, from whom acquired by a Private Collection

Not viewed out of the frame. The board appears sound. There are some extremely small lines of craquelure to some of the more impasto areas of white pigment, apparent just above the centre of the lower horizontal edge, to the left of the figure's hair, and towards the right of her arms and black skirt. There is some light surface dirt across the work. Subject to the above, the work appears to be in excellent overall condition, with a richly textured impasto surface. Ultraviolet light reveals no obvious signs of fluorescence or retouching. The work is housed in a gilt and painted wooden frame, with fabric backing, held under glass. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
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‘My mood… is over the people in all my scenes. I could not, I did not want to, paint them as they appear. The truth is that I was not painting them. I have been called a painter of the Manchester workpeople. But my figures are not exactly that. They are ghostly figures which tenant these courts and lane-ways which seem to me so beautiful, they are symbols of my mood, they are myself.’

(L.S. Lowry quoted in ‘My Lonely Life’ interview with Edwin Mullins, Sunday Telegraph, 20^th November 1966)

By the mid-1950s and into the 60s and 70s, single figures and small groups of people were taking the place of crowds in Lowry’s paintings. Rendered with a more highly developed sense of individual identity, these figures are frequently set upon a white void. There is no pretence at setting and the industrial backdrops of his earlier paintings are abandoned. The figure alone is of prime importance.  

In the present work a woman stares out blankly at the viewer. The dogs at her feet are detached from her, their attention caught by something outside the picture plane. The environment she inhabits is nebulous and creates an atmosphere of isolation and unease. Lowry’s fascination with the notion of loneliness is palpable.