Page 26 - Studio International - November 1966

Street Scene in Snow 1941
Oil on panel
14+ x 24 in.
Collection: Professor and
Mrs H. B. Maitland

whether I would like to see the back room. his speech more formal, in the sense that any man's
The back room was the studio and, more than most public statements invariably differ from his private
artist's studios, it is impossible to describe without re- utterances. But, while the nuances might have been
course to words like chaotic, disorganized and the like. different, the tone was still basically the same; the frank
But this room, for all its lack of discipline, was in fact an enjoyment of painting, the reluctance to enter into
almost living organism in which the jumble of canvases jargon-ridden psycho-analytical discussion of an act
and panels spoke of dedication, an unremitting profes- which came from within and was firmly intended to
sionalism and those more intangible qualities which go to remain there, the apparent simplicity and unconscious-
make up Lowry's unique vision. After a long talk about ness of motivation and technique—all of which concealed
the technicalities of his work, we then discussed for about and protected the inner, inviolable private core of his
fifteen minutes my purchase of a tiny wooden panel of personality and his art.
some children and a dog standing on the pavement, in Whatever else Lowry may be, he is no simpleton as
which the major issue was not the price but whether or some would fondly imagine. Both he and his art are deeply
not I felt I would be happy to possess it. Only when intelligent and there is nothing of either the primitive or
Lowry had satisfied himself on this score did he say that it the 'Sunday' painter about him. He bears no more rela-
was, in fact, an unfinished piece. He then, with one hand, tionship to Grandma Moses than that venerable lady did
balanced the panel on his knee and with the other spent to the desert leader whose name she bore, and when
ten minutes working only in black and white which, Lowry says that he is a 'Sunday' painter who paints every
together with a little red, some dark brown and a little day of the week he is, in his own quiet way, taking us for
blue, comprised the colour range of the panel, deepening a ride. Equally, Lowry bears little relation to the genuine
a tone here and putting in a highlight there until he was primitive painters like Bombois or Hirshfield; if one has
satisfied. For ten minutes he had exploited the meticu- to relate him to any other artist then one has to bring in
lousness of the craftsman and spontaneity of the artist, the highly sophisticated work of the Douanier Rousseau,
fusing the two into an act of pure painting; unself- of Bauchant, or the Yugoslav Generalic. In fact, even
conscious and unfussy and palpably honest. with these painters the only common ground is sophisti-
Then, I felt I had acquired not only a painting but also cation which is, in turn, partly based on technical excel-
a unique, because unguarded, insight into an artistic lence. What one always has to remember with Lowry is
personality which usually keeps itself concealed by the that he received a thorough and orthodox technical
simple expedient of exposing what it wishes and needs to training, as one can see in the student drawings and the
expose on canvas or wood and leaving the rest carefully early landscapes and portraits which he painted before
hidden from view. On the other three occasions when I developing his intensely personal style. Unlike, for
met Lowry and talked to him at length there was always instance, Alfred Wallis, Lowry is in no sense a 'crude'
either between us, or hovering in the background, the painter. He possesses great powers of organization and
mechanical intrusiveness of the B.B.C. tape recorder into composition, as the most casual glance at his large
which I was encouraging him to talk and a succession of paintings will show. Indeed, if one has to deprecate
no doubt similarly wearisome engagements had made Lowry's work in any way, then one has to admit that
232