The Matchstick People of L S Lowry

L S Lowry's self portrait, 1925 Oil on board

When I was living in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester in the early 80s, I came across the artist L S Lowry. No, not the man himself, but his works at the Salford Art Gallery. I fell in love with what some would term 'naive art'. I liked his rendition of landscapes of the industrial north of England, and I particularly admired his iconic 'matchstick' figures of people going about their daily life. There is a certain charm to his figures, reminding me of a childhood period of schooling in Alor Star, when my friends and I drew people like this.

Mill Scene, 1965. Oil on canvas

Laurence Stephen Lowry was born in 1887 in Stretford and died at the age of 89. As a man and an artist, he "has been variously described as being lonely, solitary, enigmatic and eccentric without any definition of these terms in relation to the man. In some degree these attributes could be applied to certain aspects of his long life and some refer more strongly to certain periods. The action of most people, if viewed through a magnifying lens, could be classified in the same way".

Market Scene, Northern Town, 1939. Oil on canvas

A Fight, 1935. Oil on canvas

His artistic journey began when he was 15 and loved to sketch. He attended art classes in Manchester and Salford, and later exhibited at various art galleries both in the UK and overseas. He received honorary degrees from the Universities of Manchester, Salford and Liverpool. In fact, he has been described as "one of the most original English painters of this century" and he is "perhaps Lancashire's greatest artist and certainly one of the most loved of British painters".

Houses in Broughton, 1937. Pencil

It is interesting to note that this picture of his painting below, was entitled 'The Bedroom' until the artist's death, in respect of his wishes that it should not be generally known that it did, in fact, depict his own bedroom in Station Road, Pendlebury, Swinton, where he lived from 1909 to 1948.

The Artist's Bedroom, Pendlebury, 1940. Oil on canvas

Level crossing, 1946. Oil on canvas

The above picture is said to be 'an illustration of the artist's ability to caricature objects as well as people'. I had bought some prints of his paintings at the Gallery in Salford then and had them framed later. They became the mainstay of our Taman Pekaka (Pulau Pinang) sitting room walls till we moved to Shah Alam.

Note: Lowry trivia - he loved the operas of Bellini, Norma being his favourite!
Ref: L. S. Lowry; the Salford Collection. City of Salford Cultural Services Department, 1977. Ex Libris CNB 960