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In he began attending evening classes at Manchester Municipal College of Art. His tutor in the life drawing class there was the Frenchman Adolphe Valette, who brought first-hand knowledge of the Impressionists, such as Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro to his classes.
One of his tutors there, Bernard Taylor art critic for the Manchester Guardian advised Lowry that his paintings were too dark. In response, Lowry tried painting on a pure white background, a technique he was to retain for the rest of his career.
He had begun to see the possibilities of painting what he saw on his doorstep, rather than more conventional landscapes based on the countryside nearby. Throughout the s Lowry developed his theme of painting the industrial scene and probably produced more work in this decade than in any other. He exhibited widely with various societies, including the New English Art Club and the Society of Modern Painters, as well as in Paris, but no works were sold.
By he had produced what he described as his most characteristic mill scene — Coming from the Mill, now in the Lowry Collection, Salford. In the same year he held his first one-man exhibition in Manchester.
All the exhibits were drawings of the Ancoats area of the city and every one sold, including one to Manchester Art Gallery. In Lowry had work accepted at the Royal Academy in London but in the same year his father died suddenly.
My parents were so happy even if they didn't really understand my work". Lowry's father passed away from pneumonia in He left behind sizable debts and also the task of caring for his mostly bedridden mother, who suffered from neurosis and depression. Lowry's mother became physically and emotionally dependent on her son who found time to paint largely from memory only after she had fallen asleep.
According to O'Connell and Fitzgerald, "Lowry painted late into the night after his day's work at the office and disliked it when this routine was interrupted". They added that "When asked about the fact that he never married, he replied: 'I was obsessed with painting; I couldn't have gone on as I did and been fair to a wife. When I painted seriously I painted not from ten till four, you know, but from ten till about twelve or two o'clock in the morning. You couldn't do that to be fair to the wife'".
Lowry exhibited works in galleries in Canada, France, and Northern England and held his first one-man exhibition, at the Reid and Lefevre Gallery in London in Although the Lefevre exhibition significantly increased Lowry's profile - he had by now sold some sixty pieces in total with one being bought by The Tate Gallery - many were less than enthusiastic about his urban landscapes.
One critic wrote in the Apollo art magazine that Lowry was "a self-taught painter, a Sunday painter, a primitive," while a critic for The Spectator wrote "I resent the Lowry automaton so fiercely and I am inclined to think that some part of his convention rises out of his ability to draw the human figure".
Likewise, a critic wrote in The Times that although they found Lowry's work to be original, it was also "narrow and repetitive, with the human figures appearing like insects".
Lowry's response to such criticism was rather indifferent: "Let people have their opinions. If they don't like my work, they don't". In , his mother's health in irreversible decline, Lowry produced a small number of what are known as his despairingly expressionistic "red-eye" portraits.
In October , just as he was starting to gain serious recognition, his beloved mother passed away. Lowry was so devasted at his loss to which the "red-eye" portraits attest he contemplated suicide.
He said at the time, "I have no family, only my studio, Were it not for my painting, I couldn't live.
It helps me forget that I am alone". At the outbreak of World War Two, Lowry volunteered as a fire watcher patrolling the rooftops of department stores in Manchester before, in , becoming an official war artist. By the end of the war he was starting to receive serious recognition and accepted an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University of Manchester in In the wake of his mother's death, Lowry had neglected the upkeep of the family home, which was finally repossessed by the landlord in By this point, however, Lowry was financially secure and had earned enough from sales of his paintings to purchase a property known as "The Elms" in the leafy district of Mottram in Longdendale.
He was able to set up a studio in the house but found himself less than enamored with his new surroundings: "It does nothing for me. I know there's plenty to paint here but I haven't the slightest desire to work locally" he said.
His new-found wealth meant that he was able to start collecting works by artists he admired, most notably the Pre-Raphaelite , Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Lowry, who said of the artist, "there is no one like Rossetti, his pictures are quite wonderful", even started a "Rossetti Society" for which he acted as president. In income from his art was enough he was able to resign from the Pall Mall Property Company and, in , he accepted the role of Official Artist at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Although still somewhat reclusive, he did start to build and maintain a number of important artistic friendships, including Harold Riley a painter from Salford known for his works that focus on sporting events , and the Cumberland artist Sheila Fell, who he met in November , and called "the finest landscape artist of the midth century". Indeed, he supported Fell's career by purchasing a number of her paintings, which he then donated to local museums. By Lowry's standing had risen to such a degree he was elected as an Associate Member of the Royal Academy of Arts, and a full Royal Academician in Already an honorary Doctor of Letters at the University of Manchester awarded in , he received the same accolade from the Universities of Salford and Liverpool both in and served as a visiting tutor at the prestigious Slade School of Fine Art.
However, Lowry also holds some kind of record for the most honors declined, including an appointment to the Order of the British Empire twice in and , a knighthood in , and appointments to the Order of the Companions of Honor twice in and Explaining his decision to decline this national recognition he said "There seemed little point, once mother was dead" and explained to the British Prime Minster, Harold Wilson, "All my life I have felt most strongly against social distinction of any kind".
Many of his drawings and paintings depict Pendlebury, Lancashire, where he lived and worked for more than 40 years, and also Salford and its surrounding areas. Lowry is famous for painting scenes of life in the industrial districts of North West England in the midth century. He developed a distinctive style of painting and is best known for his urban landscapes peopled with human figures often referred to as "matchstick men".
Lowry L. Lowry was a twentieth century painter of industrial scenes. When and Where was he Born? Christened Laurence Stephen Lowry. Lowry and Elizabeth Hobson.
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