Who was L.S. Lowry?
Painter of Working Class urban scenes.
Date and Place of Birth:
1st November 1887, Stretford, Manchester, England.
Christened Laurence Stephen Lowry.
Family Background:
Only child of Irish born R.S. Lowry and Elizabeth
Hobson.
Education:
Local School in Victoria Park and privately tutored
by William Fitz. Municipal College of Art (Now Manchester Metropolitan
University) under Adolphe Vallette.
Chronology/Biography of L.S. Lowry:
1904: Found work
as a clerk in a Manchester Firm of Accountants.
1905: Went to study
art at Manchester School of Art in the evenings (until 1915).
1909: Moved with
his parents to Pendlebury in Salford, now Greater Manchester.
1910: Obtained a
job as a rent collector with a Manchester company where he was to
stay for the next 42 years. His vision of the working class streets
was formed in this period whilst he tramped the local streets.
1915: Began evening
classes at Salford School of Art where he first developed his distinctive
style of matchstick figures (until 1925).
1918: Studied at
the life classes at Manchester Academy of Fine Arts.
1919: Exhibited
for the first time at Manchester Art Gallery.
1930's Began exhibiting
at the Royal Academy in London.
1939: Death of his
mother whom he had lived with all her life and nursed in her final
years.
1945: Awarded an
Honorary MA at Manchester University.
1948: Left Pendlebury
when his landlord repossessed his house and moved to Mottram-in-Longendale
in Cheshire, where he lived until his death.
1950's: Visited
his long time friend Geoffrey Bennett several years running, who
had become the Manager at the National Westminster Bank in Cleator
Moor, Cumbria. Lowry painted a picture of the bank and other local
scenes.
1961: Awarded an
Honorary Doctor of Letters at Manchester University
1962: Elected as
a Member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Geoffrey Bennet
becomes an Anglican Clergyman.
1964: The Prime
Minister used his painting "The Pond" as his official
Christmas Card.
1965: Made a Freeman
of the City of Salford.
1967: "Coming
out of School" was used for a British Postage Stamp.
Marriage:
Never married.
Places of Interest:
LONDON:
Tate Modern.
GREATER MANCHESTER:
The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays, M5 2AZ.. (Holds
over 300 of his works).
NORTHUMBERLAND:
The Lowry Trail, Berwick-upon-Tweed. Lowry was
especially fond of Berwick and set many of his paintings there.
Tourist trail organised in association with Northumberland County
Council.
Date and Place of Death:
23rd February 1976, Glossop, Derbyshire, England.
Age at Death:
88.
Site of Grave:
Chorlton Southern Cemetery next to his
parents.
