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Lot Essay
The long perspective, formed by a panoramic view, was used by Lowry for decades. During the 1940s and 50s it encompassed the North West, and in the 60s Wales. In this painting we find all of Lowry's industrial iconography: the church, the chimneys, the viaduct or bridge, the mills, the houses and the river.
The red bridge in the centre, metaphorically, cuts the bridge in half. The top is depicted in almost a monotone of grey; the colours that are evident are subtle and delicate; it is there as background only. It is the lower part that holds Lowry's, and the viewer's, interest.
The river is all important and its inclusion is reminiscent of scenes Lowry painted during his mother's long illness and after her death. Although lighter in tone than the earlier paintings, this work too has a sense of abandonment. The figures, small and unassuming, walk along a shore lined with the ribs of large derelict boats. The blue-green mounds of the foreground, with their large water holes, seem an area of industrial waste rather than of grassy knolls. Smoke billows from a single chimney and whisps from another, but the remainder are still. The whole becomes a paradoxical image - calm yet menacing.
We are very grateful to Judith Sandling for providing the above catalogue entry.
The red bridge in the centre, metaphorically, cuts the bridge in half. The top is depicted in almost a monotone of grey; the colours that are evident are subtle and delicate; it is there as background only. It is the lower part that holds Lowry's, and the viewer's, interest.
The river is all important and its inclusion is reminiscent of scenes Lowry painted during his mother's long illness and after her death. Although lighter in tone than the earlier paintings, this work too has a sense of abandonment. The figures, small and unassuming, walk along a shore lined with the ribs of large derelict boats. The blue-green mounds of the foreground, with their large water holes, seem an area of industrial waste rather than of grassy knolls. Smoke billows from a single chimney and whisps from another, but the remainder are still. The whole becomes a paradoxical image - calm yet menacing.
We are very grateful to Judith Sandling for providing the above catalogue entry.