Bonhams 1793 : Laurence Stephen Lowry R.A. (British, 1887-1976) Ardens Farm, Swinton Moss 18.3 x 22.5 cm. (7 1/4 x 8 7/8 in.)

PROVENANCE:
With J. Davey & Sons Ltd., Manchester, where purchased by the present owner in 1962

This lot is accompanied by two letters and two notes written by L.S. Lowry and a postcard from J. Davey & Sons Ltd.

It would be a mistake to conceive of Lowry, as many do, as purely a painter of urban and industrial scenes. Portraiture, seascapes and rural landscape too held great interest for him. His sheer diversity as an artist is often overlooked but owes much to his lengthy artistic education. He studied for many years at the Municipal College of Art in Manchester. This endowed Lowry with an academic training that was second to none an understanding of which underpins all his compositions.

In order to contextualise the present lot one can look to a larger, more complete work from 1944 similar in composition known as A Lancashire Farm (illustrated in T.G Rosenthal, L.S Lowry, The Art and the Artist, Unicorn Press, Norwich, p.251). The existence of this work suggests that the present lot was painted at a similar date. Rosenthal describes A Lancashire Farm as a 'traditional farm building and a couple of carts resting on their rear ends with the empty shafts, devoid of horses, pointing skywards ... there is a solitary splash of colour, almost dead centre, in the blouse or sweater worn by the woman crossing the farmyard ... the overall effect is wintry, although not chilling. It is at once a realistic, recording version of a common sight, made beautiful as he makes his mill scenes beautiful, by Lowry's vision mined out of unpromising working environments.' (Loc.cit)