Laurence Stephen Lowry, R.A. 1887-1976

Lefevre Gallery, London
Waddington Galleries, London, whence purchased by the present owner

Alongside his large-scale, dramatic industrial scenes peopled with heaving crowds such as Going to the Match (Coll. Professional Footballers' Association), Lowry was also fascinated by the everyday happenings of the smaller street corners often hidden from the public eye by large scale industrialistaion. Street Scene with Figures epitomises this specific strand of Lowry's work that reached its zenith in the 1950s. His use of sharp perspective immediately draws the viewer's attention to the sky-line of industrial chimneys and smoke highlighting the livelihood of this particular street corner. However, in contrast to the towering buildings, Lowry's characters are portrayed in a more intimate fashion focusing on the gentleman walking his dog in the centre of the composition to the innocent passers-by in the foreground and the two figures on the left who look out directly at the viewer encouraging them to participate in the scene. 

After first meeting Lowry in May 1951 and walking through Manchester with him, Maurice Collis understood this ability to encapsulate time and place before most others. He recalls that, '...as we strolled along, Lowry would stop and point down a laneway. One saw a courtyard, a row of houses, crooked railings, worn steps, odd pillars in a door way, battered wood work, a mesh of chimneys and a skyline of towers and mills, square built and very high'.  Lowry subsequently explained to Collis on this occasion that he 'used to go into the country painting landscapes and the like. The one day, thirty-six years ago, I suddenly saw it. It was not in this very place but in Salford, in Pendlebury, for there, too, are a few corners like this' (Maurice Collis, The Discovery of L.S.Lowry, Alex Reid and Lefevre, London, 1951).