Lowry

In Manchester Art Gallery, I expected that there would be some paintings by L.S.Lowry and indeed I was right. Above is a typical Lowry canvas painted in 1928. It's "Coming Home from the Mill" and it exemplifies the artist's  lifelong interest in the lives of ordinary working people. They trudge around like matchstalk figures - small in the industrial landscape they inhabit.

This one is titled "Laying the Foundation Stone". Painted in 1936 it depicts the pomp and ceremony of  a municipal event as a tiresome town councillor addresses his audience. He is beginning the process of building a new school. Lowry was rather repulsed by such events.

In this picture, "Street Sceme With Figures" (1949), a hurrying man turns to look at the artist. His back is bent and there is something quite clownish about his face. Behind him factories belch smoke. In the grand scheme of things, his existence is of little importance even though he has places to go, people to see.

This is a picture of Piccadilly Gardens in the heart of Manchester. It was commissioned and completed in 1954. The gardens stand on the site of the old Manchester Royal Infirmary with The Coronation Fountain in the centre - created to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's ascension to the throne.

And here is the artist himself, Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887 - 1976). Like him or loathe him, he certainly made his mark. I have referred to him and his artistry several times before in this blog...