Children walking

LAURENCE STEPHEN LOWRY RA RBA LG NS

Manchester 1887 - 1976 Glossop

Ref: CC 176

Children walking

Signed and dated lower right: L.S. Lowry 1951

Oil on panel: 3 ½ x 6 ½ in / 8.9 x 16.5 cm

Frame size: 6 ½ x 9 ½ in / 16.5 x 24.1 cm

Provenance:

Gifted by the artist to the Hon Mrs Helen Sutcliffe (1930-2023), Patron of the Rhodes Foundation Scholarship Trust Fund, during a studio visit with her father, Lord Rhodes of Saddleworth (1895-1987), then by descent

This enchanting painting was gifted to Helen Sutcliffe by LS Lowry on a studio visit with her father, Lord Rhodes of Saddleworth (1895-1987), who was both the artist’s local MP (for Ashton-under-Lyne between 1945-1964) and an important patron. Lord Rhodes was the first owner of Lowry’s celebrated Going to the match, 1953 (now owned by The Lowry, Salford), amongst other works, including A political meeting (also 1953, private collection), which depicted Rhodes in action.

Lowry’s depictions of children are particularly perceptive, their movements and gestures appear absolutely contemporary and yet simultaneously timeless. Against the tide of richly textured, flake white ground with the subtlest signs of an urban street setting, the dynamic group of children move in an undulating figural frieze. Each skilfully rendered with a few perfectly judged, fluid strokes to describe not just the posture and movement of the child, but also something of their character. Three of the children, at each end and in the middle of the procession, shine out in golden ochre, their right arms pointing the way as they swing them in forward motion. Darker figures, mixing black and red seem to recede in between them, until our attention is grabbed by one delightful daub of bright vermillion. Children walking demonstrates the withdrawal of architecture from its previous prominence in Lowry’s work, leaving the figures as the focus of the composition. The rich, textured surface reveals the early influence of the Impressionist painter, Adolphe Valette (1876–1942), who taught Lowry at the Municipal College of Art, Manchester from 1905-15.