Gallery Visit: L. S. Lowry

Sharing a gallery visit of Lowry

I was introduced to Lowry on my Dad’s side of the family. My Dad and his family were from Burnley, a Lancashire town in the North of England. My Grandma was advised to move away from the pollution of the North due to her health and they relocated to Broadway in the Cotswolds, when Dad was 10 years old. I remember that Grandad had a print of a Lowry painting in his house and when my grandparents past away, I remember the piece being in our family home. Where it went from there, I am not sure.

During my sixth form days, Dad took me to Manchester to visit the Lowry gallery. I remember really enjoying the experience and being inspired by his creations. Fast forward over twenty years, my hubby and son purchase Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C away tickets at Manchester Utd and I am rubbing my hands with delight…I can revisit the gallery.

The gallery is located near Media City, a very up and coming, modern area on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, where there are television studios, including both the BBC and ITV, many food outlets, a theatre, galleries, museums, shops, offices and luxury apartments. It’s a twenty minute walk from Old Trafford and the tram takes you to the city centre.

The Lowry gallery was extremely quiet when I visited. This gave me more time to embrace all the work exhibited without feeling self-conscious and that eyes were glaring at me to say, ‘You’re in the way!’ Walking up the promenade, there was a little room, which showed a film of his house, which followed big displays of his life, career, artists who inspired him and the messages he wanted to communicate through his work.

Moving into the gallery, the light and airy rooms exhibited a range of sketches and paintings of Lowry’s work. The first painting I came to was ‘Yachts’, 1959, a watercolour painting on paper. His choice of colour palette gave me a sense of warmth and the compositional layout took me on a journey with my eyes visualising the sights, sounds, fun and laugher of family holidays. I thought this was a very well thought-out piece to start the exhibition off, because as you embraced each of his creations of artwork around the gallery, life for many weren’t as fun and fulfilling as dreamy days down at the beach.

It put life into perspective how tough life was in the industrial North, with health issues, disputes, lack of a decent wage and poor living among the working class.

The endless landscape of smoking chimneys, the gloomy skies and the body language of the figures is captured by Lowry brilliantly. The desaturated colour palettes gives a sense of hardship, order and gloom. Lowry shows the distant factories with a pale value giving a sense of the never ending array of factories and mills in the distance.

The exhibition showcased a range of sketches Lowry drew. I have to say, I found these quick, observational drawings really fascinating. They where meaningful for Lowry, capturing the moment but nothing close to perfection. This secured my belief that anyone can draw and that mark making is the diary to someone’s emotion, observation and moment in time. Wouldn’t it be lovely that everyone made a quick sketch instead of taking a quick photo on a smartphone. That would make a exhibition in itself.

This piece above, ‘A Mill’ drawn using a ballpoint pen, around 1960, seems to have been drawn quickly. However it is clear that Lowry is using his mark making to create the shapes of the crowds of moving people, the structure of the mills, its windows and the streets. He shows clear perspective.

The two sketches above captures a world outside the industrial North. The beauty, wealth, nature and love of two different environments warms my heart and gives a sense of hope. I am sure these were places of refuge from the grind when weekends were times for relaxation or life for the more wealthier folk.

The sketches and paintings of the figures captured the emotions, personalities and disputes through the facial features and body language, even though they are almost cartoon like.

‘Minimal Drawing of a Girl’ 1966, shows a single pencil mark of a figure. The sketch ‘captures her slightly stooped pose with great confidence.’ This was an intriguing piece, of which I took a double look. It was one I asked many questions to myself. It was interesting that the greatest paintings in many galleries have never made me so curious than this single mark of a figure.

Lowry painted a self portrait when he was 37 years old. He recalled, ‘I had a great tussle with it, and when it was done said, “Never again, thank you.” ‘ I have painted many pieces that I have tussled with. It isn’t just me that have had arguments and frustrations with their paintings. From this quote, we shouldn’t get hung up with the fact that our brains think that were aren’t good enough if we make mistakes. It is very normal to make mistakes and we need to embrace it, not self-sabotage ourselves. I am sure more people would draw more if they thought more positivity about their creations.

The gallery is certainly worth a visit if you are in the area. It is free to visit and you can give a donation if you wish.

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