A Lonely Figure Who Filled A Generation Into The Areas Of Industrial Lancashire - By: David Tatham

A jar of honey was the charge Lowry was paid for the last couple of his three thousand paintijngs and drawings. They were given to a colleague of twenty years, John Morris, for whom Lowry had previously done several sketches in exchange for a few bars of chocolate. The Lancashire artist's final drawings were two sketches , quickly scribbled on the rear of a bow-tie box with a japanese felt tip pen. One shows a Salford street scene, The other is a drawing of Mr Morris's dog Labrador, Rex. It is inscribed 'To Rex, with best wishes'

Mr Morris of Heaton Road, Stockport, said "All he asked for them was the pot of honey, which I had taken for him anyway. He was very partial to honey and bars of chocolate too, which I used to slip through his letter box to say Hello. It was a bit of a running joke between us. He drew quite a number of drawings for me, which I gave to charity, and all for a few bars of chocolate. He was very warm, with a enormous sense of humour, but very isolated.

When Lowry died the population of the world was three and a half thousand million. The chances therefore of achieving worldwide recognition were very small, yet, here was an artist, whose work had become instantly recognisable , viewed anywhere from Manchester to Brisbane. At the age of eighty eight, Lowry died from pneumonia. He is widely regarded as a genius , yet he achieved little peace of mind. He was tall in stature and lived on his own, isolated, without many material possessions, and for a long time he had tended to complain about having no. He had many visitors. but when he was bored with their company, he would yawn. A type of yawn that was saying to his visitor; that he wished to retire back into his solitude.

Lowry was amazed by the industry and the people around him, and never understood why they had not been captured on canvas before. So he took it upon himself to have a go. He was able to succeed at this, but suffered on the way. During this period Lowry was selling one artwork a year for around thirty pounds. He often gave an air of seriousness, but inside there was a quirky sense of humour. He would tell budding artists, "Stop before it is too late." To others he would say, "I am unbelievablyincorrigibly lazy, maybe that is why I have been so industrious all my life." Or, "Look at that cemetry, nobody there is complaining." Or, "A married man exists like a dog and dies like a king; a single man lives like a king and dies like a dog." He stopped with his artistic career more often than his contemporaries started, there are many references to 'Last Interviews'. He always thought of 1918-1930 as his best time because he was 'fresh to it'. When a customer once said "Mr Lowry, you haven't put a date on this one." He replied without a smile, "Oh, haven't I? Which date would you like, 1929 was a very good year."

On one occasion he said, "I guess if I had my life again I would be an artist, but I don't think much of it as a life. You get sick of painting pictures, It's a job like anything else."

About the Author

David Tatham has been working in the world of fine arts for over many years and . His website contains a wealth of information, also hundreds signed, limited edition prints and original works of art by world renowned artists,eg. The conservationist and wildlife artist, David Shepherd http://www.davidshepherd.com .

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