- 15
LAURENCE STEPHEN LOWRY, R.A. | The Steps
Estimate
300,000 - 500,000 GBP
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Description
- Laurence Stephen Lowry
- The Steps
- signed and dated 1952
- oil on canvas
- 51 by 61cm.; 20 by 24in.
Provenance
Alex. Reid & Lefevre Ltd, London
Sale, Bonhams Knightsbridge, 22nd November 2000, lot 176
Richard Green, London where acquired by the present owner, 21st May 2001
Sale, Bonhams Knightsbridge, 22nd November 2000, lot 176
Richard Green, London where acquired by the present owner, 21st May 2001
Condition
Compiled by Alex France at Hamish Dewar Ltd., 22/05/2018: Structural Condition The canvas appears lined and is securely attached to a relatively new keyed wooden stretcher. This is providing an even and stable structural support . The painting is securely held in its framing arrangement with an integrated perspex backboard screwed into the reverse of the stretcher. Paint Surface The paint surface has an even varnish layer. There are scattered areas of raised lines of craquelure within the sky, most notably below the centre of the upper edge. These appear stable at present. Inspection under ultraviolet light shows small scattered spots and lines of retouching within the sky, lines of retouching within the steps, and a few further spots and lines of retouching above the lower edge. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
'Steps and things…I liked doing steps, steps in Ancoats…steps in Stockport…Steps anywhere you like, simply because I like steps and the area in which they were in was an industrial area…' (L.S. Lowry, quoted in Judith Sandling and Michael Lever, Lowry’s City, A Painter and his Locale, The Lowry, Salford, 2000, p.60).
As he continues his doleful march up the flight of steps ahead of him, our wine bottle-shaped protagonist plods towards the smoggy and mysterious industrial landscape beyond. Atop his curiously proportioned legs, and crowned by his minute head, this solitary figure is in many ways the archetypal Lowry player. His characters are typically 'lonely, ridiculous, misshapen, forever separated from each other, and dressed in the preposterous clothing that poverty provides' (Mervyn Levy, The Drawings of L.S. Lowry, Public and Private, Cory, Adams and Mackay, London, 1963, p.12). Lowry’s art lays forth in his own elegant vernacular the fundamental ridiculousness of humanity.
Frequently cloaked by isolation Lowry’s fascination lies in the depiction of events and places as general and representative experiences divested of identifying features or individuality. As is typical of Lowry’s work representing a general space, populated by general figures, this non-specific location could be anywhere in the industrial North.
The composition itself is extremely sophisticated. The rapidly recessing horizontal planes drag the figure from the foreground into the mid-ground. The ‘whiteness’ of the background also serves to bring the eye forward by ensuring that the figure almost floats within the space. The landscape into which he is walking becomes unspecified, as the colours soften into the distance. Even the separation between the telegraph poles and the solitude of the mill chimneys is suggestive of loneliness. By breaking the space with heavy black lines into the railings, steps and buildings in the wings Lowry separates the area between the expanse beyond and that which the figure leaves behind, placing him in a no-man’s-land of sorts.
Much of Lowry’s brilliance lies in his ability to transform the ordinary and unexceptional into something beautiful and compelling. Here, the simple act of a man climbing a flight of stairs assumes a poignancy, which seems incommensurate with the act. The isolation of the figure, consumed by his industrial surroundings makes a deep reading of the work unavoidable. The figure’s pitiful, almost comic, composition enveloped by unforgiving surroundings, mill chimneys and the suggestion of an industrial wasteland beyond represent Lowry at his best.
In the early 1950s Lowry began to move away from his well-known industrial compositions, largely in response to the de-industrialisation of the North. As has been noted by various commentators, the appearance of the world he depicts shows very little change from his early work right through to the end of his career, despite straddling some of the most significant upheaval of the preceding two hundred years. His objection to the changes, which he (artistically) had attempted to keep at bay, led to some personal dislocation within a world in flux.
What could be considered his heightened sense of isolation within these circumstances begins to lend itself to a change in his output, as big crowds morph into smaller groups and individuals, and also as figures become suspended within increasingly white backgrounds. As Shelly Rohde has assessed, by the '50s 'he had a new obsession, his single figures, his grotesques. The struggling, surging, misshapen homunculi who used to live for so long in the shadow of the mills emerging at last from their background to stand alone' (Shelly Rohde, L.S. Lowry, A Biography, Lowry Press, Salford Quays, 3rd ed. 1999, p.360).
As he continues his doleful march up the flight of steps ahead of him, our wine bottle-shaped protagonist plods towards the smoggy and mysterious industrial landscape beyond. Atop his curiously proportioned legs, and crowned by his minute head, this solitary figure is in many ways the archetypal Lowry player. His characters are typically 'lonely, ridiculous, misshapen, forever separated from each other, and dressed in the preposterous clothing that poverty provides' (Mervyn Levy, The Drawings of L.S. Lowry, Public and Private, Cory, Adams and Mackay, London, 1963, p.12). Lowry’s art lays forth in his own elegant vernacular the fundamental ridiculousness of humanity.
Frequently cloaked by isolation Lowry’s fascination lies in the depiction of events and places as general and representative experiences divested of identifying features or individuality. As is typical of Lowry’s work representing a general space, populated by general figures, this non-specific location could be anywhere in the industrial North.
The composition itself is extremely sophisticated. The rapidly recessing horizontal planes drag the figure from the foreground into the mid-ground. The ‘whiteness’ of the background also serves to bring the eye forward by ensuring that the figure almost floats within the space. The landscape into which he is walking becomes unspecified, as the colours soften into the distance. Even the separation between the telegraph poles and the solitude of the mill chimneys is suggestive of loneliness. By breaking the space with heavy black lines into the railings, steps and buildings in the wings Lowry separates the area between the expanse beyond and that which the figure leaves behind, placing him in a no-man’s-land of sorts.
Much of Lowry’s brilliance lies in his ability to transform the ordinary and unexceptional into something beautiful and compelling. Here, the simple act of a man climbing a flight of stairs assumes a poignancy, which seems incommensurate with the act. The isolation of the figure, consumed by his industrial surroundings makes a deep reading of the work unavoidable. The figure’s pitiful, almost comic, composition enveloped by unforgiving surroundings, mill chimneys and the suggestion of an industrial wasteland beyond represent Lowry at his best.
In the early 1950s Lowry began to move away from his well-known industrial compositions, largely in response to the de-industrialisation of the North. As has been noted by various commentators, the appearance of the world he depicts shows very little change from his early work right through to the end of his career, despite straddling some of the most significant upheaval of the preceding two hundred years. His objection to the changes, which he (artistically) had attempted to keep at bay, led to some personal dislocation within a world in flux.
What could be considered his heightened sense of isolation within these circumstances begins to lend itself to a change in his output, as big crowds morph into smaller groups and individuals, and also as figures become suspended within increasingly white backgrounds. As Shelly Rohde has assessed, by the '50s 'he had a new obsession, his single figures, his grotesques. The struggling, surging, misshapen homunculi who used to live for so long in the shadow of the mills emerging at last from their background to stand alone' (Shelly Rohde, L.S. Lowry, A Biography, Lowry Press, Salford Quays, 3rd ed. 1999, p.360).