Thursday 23 April 2009

LAWRENCE STEPHEN LOWRY


After visiting the Lowry in Salford and looking at all his work in detail, my opinion of L S Lowry has completely changed. In the past I had only seen a few of his paintings and had not been excited by his work. Although I always liked his use of muted colour and his gloomy, realistic approach to painting, I did not connect with his figures or use of line. His bold black outlines on everything seem to take something away from the mood of his paintings and reduce the realism he gets across through his colour. 
I often wondered whether Lowry's drawing style was due to lack of skill as his paintings do not hold the same incredible detail as a Leighton or a Di Vinci and they also don't have the same sense of creativity or perfection such as the works of Dali. Viewing Lowry's early work and much of his pencil and ink work made me instantly realise that his simplified and stylised way of painting was definitely a choice rather than a lack of education and skill. His eye for detail and precision is incredible. After seeing his early work I instantly gained respect for him as an artist and started to think that everything in his paintings must be there for a reason. There must be a reason he chooses to simplify his people to their basic lines when, if he wanted, he could draw them realistically. I do not fully understand Lowry's reasoning behind his style but I feel that he just works in a way he enjoys. If he wanted to get across the dirty streets and worn out people he is very capable of representing them as he sees them and including more detail but he chooses to leave this out. Maybe he feels he gets across everything he needs with the way he works, or maybe he loves the city he draws and although somewhat grey and unwelcoming, he doesn't want to make it seem  awful. 
I enjoyed seeing Lowry's work and finding another side to him that i had never realised was there.

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