Family Outing

Lowry and Geoffrey Bennett met in 1926 when Bennett worked as a clerk with Lowry's cousin, Grace Shephard, at the London and County Westminster Bank in Manchester. When Bennett married and moved to Cumbria, Lowry became a regular guest at their house Cleator Moor. It was here that he saw Bennett's young son using bright pastels and borrowed them for his own work. Lowry had used very subdued pastels in his early work, often on bright paper, but this was the first time he had adopted such strong colours. Family Outing depicts a family, dressed in their coats and hats, ready for their day trip, the remnants of smoke and the industrial landscape pictured behind them. Charmingly lined up in a row on the pavement in their haphazard ensembles, Lowry brings character and sensibility to the family group.