Laurence Stephen Lowry, R.A.

Rutland Gallery, London, whence acquired by the present owner, circa 1973

The canvas is unlined and appears to be providing a good sound support. Various minor and characteristic hairline cracks are visible in the sky but on the whole these do not appear to be causing any instability to the paint surface at present. However, there are two tiny 'tips' upper right which appear to be lifting slightly and may benefit from professional attention to ensure that no future losses occur. Otherwise the paint surface appears to be in lovely fresh original condition throughout the rest of the picture. The work would simply benefit from a light clean. Inspection under UV light does not reveal any later retouchings. Presented unglazed in a traditional decorative wood frame with various characteristic cracks and occasional surface chips but generally in good sound condition.
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The sea was a constant presence in Lowry's life, and is, like the industrial landscape with which he is so closely identified, a theme that remains central to his art throughout his life. As a child, the Lowry family had taken regular seaside holidays at popular resorts such as Lytham St. Anne's and Rhyl, and indeed paintings and drawings of such places are amongst his earliest surviving works. His 1930 painting Sailing Boats (The Estate of L.S.Lowry) was apparently the only one of his works for which his mother showed any liking, and it hung in Lowry's front room until his death.

Whilst the earliest images tend to concentrate on the coast itself and boats out at sea, the possibilities of the crowds who gathered as subject matter for Lowry soon became obvious. Drawings such as On the Sands of 1921 (Coll. The Lowry) see the beach populated by a cast of familiar figures, who but for the setting appear little changed from their usual street appearances. However, by the 1940s, his paintings of this subject were to become much more complex images. Perhaps the best known, July, The Seaside of 1943 (Arts Council Collection) fills the canvas with a huge number of figures, including hordes of children, and the range of activities in which these figures are engaged is truly staggering. Considering the date it was painted, and the privations of the war years, the image clearly is one from the artist's imagination, and may perhaps therefore be seen as something of an antidote to the grimmer realities of the period.

Once the war was over and holidays, and indeed travel, became possible again, the British embraced the traditional seaside holiday with vigour and the annual summer 'bucket and spade' trip attracted huge numbers to the coast each summer. The present work, painted in 1949, clearly evokes such times, with a busy throng of children and dogs eagerly involved in all manner of fun. Beyond the beach, boats sail on a sparkling sea, and the whole image is one of relaxation.