Seascape

Lowry was interested in the sea from childhood holidays on the coast at Lytham St Annes, and seascapes form an important part of his oeuvre. His empty seascapes can be interpreted as Lowry's loneliness; the nothingness of the vast ocean which forces contemplation. As he himself explained, 'It's the battle of life - the turbulence of the sea - and life's pretty turbulent, isn't it? ... how wonderful it is, yet how terrible it is' (exhibition catalogue, L.S. Lowry A Collector's Choice, London, Richard Green, May 2004, p. 78).

A similar empty seascape painted in 1950 is in the collection of Glasgow City Art Gallery and Lady Vansittart, the widow of the British Ambassador to Germany and wartime adviser to Winston Churchill owned five 'lonely' Lowry's, all empty scenes.