Laurence Stephen Lowry, R.A. 1887-1976

Acquired directly from the Artist by the present owner's family

Lowry’s landscape painting has, until recently, often been seen by commentators as a reflection of his own rather insular character and an aspect of his painting where subject and manner do not necessarily tie together well. As the artist’s entire output has begun to be reappraised, so the landscapes once again are able to take their place as a significant part of Lowry’s oeuvre.

From his earliest work, through the 1930 illustrations to Harold Timperley’s The Cotswolds Book and on to the end of his life, Lowry, sometimes grudgingly, acknowledged the place of landscape in his work and indeed his images of farms and fields in the areas around Lytham St.Annes and Fylde are remarkably memorable. As with his industrial scenes, the paintings are often prefigured by a number of drawings, frequently at some years’ distance, and they tend to be separated into those which depict specific locations and those which are more imaginary.

The present work gives no specific clues to the location of the buildings, yet the closely observed ramshackle growth of the central structures give the place a very human feel, a place that has developed organically according to the needs of its owners. From the smoke drifting out of the chimney, we know there is life within. And yet, as in the street scenes, the viewer, and, by implication, the artist, is placed outside this, separated by the still and forbidding waters of the farm pond.