Penny Day
Head of UK and Ireland
Lot 70AR
Laurence Stephen Lowry R.A.(British, 1887-1976)A House 45.7 x 61 cm. (18 x 24 in.)
15 June 2016, 15:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£200,000 - £300,000
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Christopher Dawson
Head of Department
Ingram Reid
Director
Laurence Stephen Lowry R.A. (British, 1887-1976)
A House
signed and dated 'L.S. LOWRY 1964' (lower right) and titled 'A HOUSE' (on the canvas overlap)
oil on canvas
45.7 x 61 cm. (18 x 24 in.)
signed and dated 'L.S. LOWRY 1964' (lower right) and titled 'A HOUSE' (on the canvas overlap)
oil on canvas
45.7 x 61 cm. (18 x 24 in.)
Footnotes
Provenance
Private Collection, U.K., since circa mid 1970s
Exhibited
London, The Lefevre Gallery, Paintings by L.S. Lowry, 11 May-3 June 1967, cat.no.10
The late husband and father of the present owners was a close friend of the artist Harold Riley (see note for lot 68). They first met when he took up painting as a hobby and had particularly admired Riley's technique in oils. Having called his gallery to discuss this, he ended up buying several examples and the two men went on to have a long friendship. It was through this bond that the late owner became aware of L.S. Lowry and purchased the present and preceding lot on Riley's advice.
In the 1960s Lowry made several visits to Wales with Monty Bloom, his great friend and supporter. The local mining villages peaked his interest and inspired some of his best loved later masterpieces such as Hillside in Wales (1962, Tate) and Bargoed (1965). The paintings that emerged depicted urban life but within a definite rural setting. Towns and houses nestling in rolling green landscapes or as in the present example, a large barn like structure set in fields, but with prominent telegraph posts reminding us of civilisation nearby.
And unlike his busy industrial scenes of the preceding decades that were populated with teeming crowds, A House presents two lone figures motionless before the curious dwelling. Their positioning front and centre in the composition demands that we notice them and consider their narrative. Standing slightly apart with their backs to us, together but separate, they highlight the sense of isolation that was so often found in Lowry's life and his observational works of this period.
