L.S. Lowry RA 1887-1976

Industrial Scene with Figures, 1958

Oil on Board
6 x 4 ins (15.24 x 10.16 cms)
Signed and dated.

Sorry this item is sold

Provenance

The Artist, by whom gifted to
Private Collection, U.K., 1960s
Their sale; Bonhams, London, 20 November 2013, lot 31
With Clarendon Fine Art, London, where purchased by the previous owner
Private Collection, U.K.

General Notes

Painted on a very small scale, Industrial Scene with Figures (1958) illustrates that L.S. Lowry was just as accomplished working on diminutive pictures as he was on expansive canvases. Through the incorporation of figures travelling to their workplace, Lowry manages to shos a thriving industrial environment within an unusually confined space. Despite being petite these oil sketches exude character; they take on a truly impressionistic air and the influence of Lowry's teacher Adolphe Valette (1876-1942) at the Manchester Municipal School of Art during 1905-07 is perhaps most evident whilst looking at these bijou pictures.

One only needs to compare Industrial Scene with Figures with Valette's equally sized St. Peter's Square (reproduced in colour in Cécilia Lyon's 2006 monograph on Valette, pl.11) to understand just how influential this French born artist was in determining Lowry's future style of painting. Indeed, Lyon notes, 'Lowry did in fact express his gratitude for Valette's contribution. 'I cannot over-estimate the effect on me at that time of the coming into this drab city of Adolphe Valette, full of the French Impressionists, aware of everything that was going on in Paris. He had freshness and a breadth of experience that was a very wonderful thing, as I saw it done by himself and his friends.' (Cécilia Lyon, Adolphe Valette, Phillimore & Co., Chichester, 2006, p.116).