Happy birthday Mr. Lowry ...........

I had forgotten, but then as he died in 1976, I can perhaps be forgiven for missing out on sending him a card.

Not so my old chum Peter Topping who is a great fan of the man, and produced a series of paintings in the style of the artist.

These went on exhibition in 2017 at the Tutku Café, where I am pleased to say they are still on show.*

Like Mr. Lowry, Peter playfully offered up pictures on the theme of “If Mr Lowry came to Chorlton”, and along with those paintings he produced picture postcards which are available from him and Chorlton Bookshop.

And if you are a tad lazy you can see some more, here on the blog by following the link.**

Painting; If Mr Lowry came to Chorlton, © 2017 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures, Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Picture; photograph of a self-portrait, L S Lowry, 1966, from the collection of David Harrop 

* Tutku Cafe, 428 Barlow Moor Rd, Chorlton, Manchester M21 8AD,  0161 222 3365

** If Mr Lowry came to Chorlton, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/If%20Mr%20Lowry%20came%20to%20Chorlton

Mr Lowry ……… and the photograph which was never returned

Now I am not a great fan of Mr Lowry.

I listen to friends who tell me about his technical skill which I fully appreciate, and I also acknowledge the power of those matchstick figures which convey the bleakness of inner-city Salford and Manchester, but I remain unmoved.

It’s perhaps because I fell for the paintings so heavily when I was 16 and carried a torch for Mr Lowry for a full decade.

But that said, when family and friends come up from the south, the Lowry and in particular Mr Lowry’s paintings in the art gallery are a must.

And I have even been known to buy a postcard of his work to send to those even more unconvinced than me.

All of which makes me smile as I look at this self portrait of the man, sent to me by David Harrop who is an avid collector.

It is a photograph of the painting and comes from Entwhistle Thorpe & Co Ltd, of Tudor Industrial Estate, Dukinfield, Cheshire.

It was received by the Daily Telegraph in the November of 1966 and was used by its sister paper the Sunday Telegraph in September 1977.

The notes on the back announce that this is “Self Portrait 1925” of “L. S. Lowry” lent by City of Salford Museum and Art Gallery” and carried the instruction that the “Copyright reserved & This photograph may be reproduced only in connection with reviews of this exhibition” and the polite request “Please return to the Arts Council of Great Britain”.

And that set me off looking for the exhibition and given the first date was 1966, that was the starting point, and in October of that year the Manchester Guardian reported that “more than 14,000 people saw the retrospective exhibition an of paintings and drawings by L.S. Lowry which ended  on Saturday after three weeks at the Whitworth Art Gallery”, concluding that despite the attendance being a record for such an event, only about 2,000 bought the 5 s catalogue.*

Leaving me to think the Telegraph carried the story in November or perhaps the following exhibition which was in Bristol.

As this was staged by the Arts Council, I think we have found our Lowry exhibition.

Leaving me only to observe that the Telegraph didn’t return the picture, and instead used it again in 1977, before parting with it, when after a period it fell to Mr Harrop.

Picture; photograph of a self-portrait, L S Lowry, 1966, from the collection of David Harrop

*Record 14,000 see exhibition of L. S. Lowry's work, Manchester Guardian, October 18, 1966

Mr Lowry and Chorlton …………. part 1 ….. a self portrait and an exhibition and a gravestone

Now as everyone knows it is pretty hard to get away from the paintings of L S Lowry.

And especially at present with the film, Mrs. Lowry & Son, which premiered at the Lowry this week and explores the relationship between British painter L.S. Lowry and his mother, Elizabeth.

So with that in mind I looked back at some of the stories I had written which included the one about the photograph of a drawing of the artist which was never returned by a newspaper, and eventually went up for sale and was bought by my old friend, David Harrop*.

The photograph now takes pride of place in a small exhibition devoted to the artist which resides in the Remembrance Lodge at Southern Cemetery, which is fitting given that Mr. Lowry was buried just a short distance from the lodge.

I have to say I have never visited the grave, but I am always intrigued by the addition at the foot of the headstone of a small pot which contains some paintbrushes.

There will be someone out there far better versed than I, who can confirm that these are original to Mr. Lowry.

And even if they are not, I like the idea, which seems as quirky as the story by another artist of a series of paintings inspired by the idea that Mr. Lowry might once have come to Chorlton.**

But that is for tomorrow.

Location Southern Cemetery

Pictures; from the collection of David Harrop


*Mr Lowry ……… and the photograph which was never returned, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2019/01/mr-lowry-and-photograph-which-was-never.html


Tomorrow; If Mr. Lowry came to Chorlton