Adolphe Valette 1876-1942

Study for Albert Square, 1910

Oil on Board
10¼ x 6½ ins (26.04 x 16.51 cms)
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Provenance

Tib Lane Gallery, Manchester

General Notes

Adolphe Valette is known for his subtly-toned works of industrial Manchester painted between 1908-1913.

'It is in essence the city's light and atmosphere, seen through an Impressionist's eyes which is the true subject of these paintings. The spontaneously painted studies reveal this more clearly than the more formalised, larger works ... Manchester's dense and foggy gloom enabled Valette to diffuse the outlines of buildings, reducing them to sometimes barely perceptible presences and to create mis-shapen, huddled forms that seem to disappear suddenly into the mist' (see Exhibition catalogue, Adolphe Valette, 1876-1942: Exhibition of Paintings, including works by pupils and associates, Manchester City Art Gallery, 1976, p. 11).

During his time in Manchester, Valette taught at the Manchester Municipal School of Art and his influence is evident in the work of his pupils, L. S. Lowry amongst them.

This work is a study for Albert Square, Manchester, painted in 1910, currently held in the Manchester City Art Gallery. This major work depicts the south-west side of the square with the Albert Memorial, Statues of Heywood and Gladstone and part of the Town Hall. This large painting is considered one of Valette's most successful and ambitious compositions.