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Lot Essay
In all of Lowry’s portraiture, the sitter is rarely identified, and like his industrial landscapes which are typically composites, they borrow elements from both real and imagined people. The figure of Ann, seen time and time again, is perhaps the most mysterious, typically depicted with her long dark hair pulled back into a plait. The present work appears to be an early incarnation of her. Of all his subjects within this genre, the presence of Ann is central to some of the most personal works the artist ever created.
It is now understood that Ann was not a real-life person, rather a figment of the artist’s imagination, a vision of his ideal women. Lowry spoke of Ann to friends, imagining her as a wealthy, sporty woman with whom he was in a relationship. She drove a Rolls-Royce, frequently holidayed in Italy, and was an accomplished tennis player and ballerina. While researching for a biography on Lowry in 1979, Shelley Rohde found no trace of Ann, and ultimately debunked the artist’s myth. Lowry used art to contain Ann, keeping the fantasy alive on canvas. This concept recalls Rossetti’s painted figures, which Lowry so much admired. He said to collector Monty Bloom: '"the Rossetti women are not real women. They are dreams. He used them for something in his mind"' (T.G. Rosenthal, L.S. Lowry: The Art and the Artist, London, 2012, p. 261).
Portrait of a girl belonged to Anouk Aimée (1932-2024) and Albert Finney (1936-2019). Both notable actors, the couple were married from 1970 to 1978.
Having broken into screen roles in the 1940s, French actress Aimée became an international film star when she was cast in Fellini's 1960 film, La Dolce Vita. In it, she plays the wealthy, liberated Maddalena, and encapsulates a bohemian sexuality at the start of the new decade. She went on to star in other French New Wave classics including Lola (1961) and A Man and a Woman (1966), for the latter earning several awards for Best Actress, including a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. Aimée was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actress for her role opposite Jean-Louis Trintignant in A Man and a Woman, becoming one of a relatively small number of actors to be nominated for a performance in a foreign film. Aimée also portrayed Jeanne Hébuterne in the 1958 film about Modigliani, Montparnasse 19, opposite Gérard Philipe. In 2002, she received an honorary César Award, France's national film award. The Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw wrote in an obituary for her that 'The enigma, sensuality and vulnerability of Aimée's screen persona are all there in essence – and above all the loneliness that comes with beauty' (The Guardian, 19 June 2024).
Albert Finney began his acting career on the stage before moving to screen acting, debuting in The Entertainer (1960), directed by Tony Richardson. He went on to have a hugely successful career, starring in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), Scrooge (1970), Annie (1982), Erin Brockovich (2000), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and James Bond film Skyfall (2012). Finney was nominated for an Academy Award five times: as Best Actor for Tom Jones (1963), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Dresser (1983) and Under the Volcano (1984), and as Best Supporting Actor for Erin Brockovich. He received many accolades for his performance as Sir Winston Churchill in the television biographical film The Gathering Storm (2002).
Finney, born in Salford, was a great supporter of Lowry and owned a number of paintings and drawings by him. In a 1996 documentary about the artist, Finney told Brian Sewell that 'Lowry's emotion speaks to me'. In November 2000 Christie's auctioned two Lowry works belonging to Finney: an oil, A Lancashire Lane, 1946, and a pencil drawing, Burton on Trent, 1969.
It is now understood that Ann was not a real-life person, rather a figment of the artist’s imagination, a vision of his ideal women. Lowry spoke of Ann to friends, imagining her as a wealthy, sporty woman with whom he was in a relationship. She drove a Rolls-Royce, frequently holidayed in Italy, and was an accomplished tennis player and ballerina. While researching for a biography on Lowry in 1979, Shelley Rohde found no trace of Ann, and ultimately debunked the artist’s myth. Lowry used art to contain Ann, keeping the fantasy alive on canvas. This concept recalls Rossetti’s painted figures, which Lowry so much admired. He said to collector Monty Bloom: '"the Rossetti women are not real women. They are dreams. He used them for something in his mind"' (T.G. Rosenthal, L.S. Lowry: The Art and the Artist, London, 2012, p. 261).
Portrait of a girl belonged to Anouk Aimée (1932-2024) and Albert Finney (1936-2019). Both notable actors, the couple were married from 1970 to 1978.
Having broken into screen roles in the 1940s, French actress Aimée became an international film star when she was cast in Fellini's 1960 film, La Dolce Vita. In it, she plays the wealthy, liberated Maddalena, and encapsulates a bohemian sexuality at the start of the new decade. She went on to star in other French New Wave classics including Lola (1961) and A Man and a Woman (1966), for the latter earning several awards for Best Actress, including a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. Aimée was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actress for her role opposite Jean-Louis Trintignant in A Man and a Woman, becoming one of a relatively small number of actors to be nominated for a performance in a foreign film. Aimée also portrayed Jeanne Hébuterne in the 1958 film about Modigliani, Montparnasse 19, opposite Gérard Philipe. In 2002, she received an honorary César Award, France's national film award. The Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw wrote in an obituary for her that 'The enigma, sensuality and vulnerability of Aimée's screen persona are all there in essence – and above all the loneliness that comes with beauty' (The Guardian, 19 June 2024).
Albert Finney began his acting career on the stage before moving to screen acting, debuting in The Entertainer (1960), directed by Tony Richardson. He went on to have a hugely successful career, starring in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), Scrooge (1970), Annie (1982), Erin Brockovich (2000), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and James Bond film Skyfall (2012). Finney was nominated for an Academy Award five times: as Best Actor for Tom Jones (1963), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Dresser (1983) and Under the Volcano (1984), and as Best Supporting Actor for Erin Brockovich. He received many accolades for his performance as Sir Winston Churchill in the television biographical film The Gathering Storm (2002).
Finney, born in Salford, was a great supporter of Lowry and owned a number of paintings and drawings by him. In a 1996 documentary about the artist, Finney told Brian Sewell that 'Lowry's emotion speaks to me'. In November 2000 Christie's auctioned two Lowry works belonging to Finney: an oil, A Lancashire Lane, 1946, and a pencil drawing, Burton on Trent, 1969.