I caught (by accident not design) the ITV programme ‘Perspectives‘ last week. It was about Lowry, the Salford based artist – who according to Brian & Michaels (truly awful) No.1 song in 1978, “painted match-stalk men and match-stalk cats and dogs”.
Laurence Stehen Lowry
It is clear that he did more than this. He provided a social commentary of a period of time when Britain was changing. He painted at night;his day job was a rent collector. His father was an Estate Agent.
His life was characterised by his parents – especially his mother. She was highly critical of him, but he remained faithful to her – to the exclusion of others.
There were two things that stood out in the programme. The first was the chance encounter with a, then, 13 year old girl; Carol Ann Lowry – who was not related. She inherited his works that had not been previously sold.
The second was that the Tate own 23 Lowry paintings – and all are in storage in the basement of Tate Britain. There was a certainly amount of snobbishness displayed in the explanation of why they were not displayed. It is constantly being “discussed”.
I couldn’t help but wonder why this was. The works do require you to look beyond the simplistic figures. But that is surely the point?
Perhaps Tate should permanently lend the works to the Lowry Centre in Salford? I am sure they would appreciate them!
In the meantime, a little closer to home, there are two Lowry’s at Nottingham Castle… and they are well worth a look!
I considered popping into the Castle to see the Lowries you mention. I had a few minutes only, and the £5.50 entry fee put me off.
This is an issue, but if you have City Card then I think, in the week at least, you get in for free? And £5.50 is a lot for what you get… Hence why a few of us have been making noises that this is really a missed opportunity for Nottingham – and that we deserve a World Class Attraction.
Just visited the Lowry Exhibition at Djanogly. It`s wonderful. Bought the DVD and thoroughly enjoyed that too. The exhibition is on until 5th Feb 2012.
Sounds like something to go and have a look at!