This day in Art History - L.S. Lowry
Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887-1976)
Born November 1, 1887 Lowry became famous for painting the urban settings in which he lived and much to his chagrin, worked.
Lowry retired from the Pall Mall Property Company in 1952. During his career he had risen to become chief cashier but he never stopped collecting rents. The firm had supported his development as an artist and he was allowed time off for exhibitions in addition to his normal holiday allowance. It seems, however, that he was not proud of his job; his secrecy about his employment by the Pall Mall Property Company is widely seen as a desire to present himself as a serious artist but the secrecy extended beyond the art world into his social circle.
Much of his style includes very populated streets and people living and working in these urban settings.
At first Lowry was considered an outsider to the Art world because of the lack of formal art training and the almost childlike simplicity of his paintings with straight lines and “match stick people”. Ironically, one of the records that Lowry holds even after his death is that of “Most Honors Declined” after several prestigious honors were offered to him and he refused.
Lowry to me is an example of most of the artists today. It is not uncommon to both be a serious artist and have another job which is your livelihood today. Lowry also proved that being an accomplished artist comes with a lot of hard work, dedication and passion for doing art.
Tags: Lowry, Artist, LS Lowry, L.S. Lowry, History, Art history, Art, Passion
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POSTED IN: Art back in the day, Artist Profile
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