Our next monthly meeting will be held on Friday, 21st November, at 10.30am in the O’ Fiaich Library, Moy Rd, Armagh. Coffee and biscuits will be available as usual (£1 in the basket please).
The guest speaker will be Canon Jim Campbell who will be giving an illustrated talk on L S Lowry the artist famed for his scenes of life in the industrial districts of North West England during the first half of the 20th century. Jim has forwarded a brief resume which is copied below.
Jim Campbell’s previous talk to Armagh U3A, about the life of Sir John Lavery, was a real hit and only finished because lunchtime was looming, so be assured of a stimulating hour….or two!
LAURENCE STEPHEN LOWRY 1887-1976 has been described as one of Britain’s best loved but most misunderstood painters. Unfairly, for the first fifty years of his life, the art establishment categorised him as an amateur; an un-taught, naïve painter of ‘matchstick men’. However, by the time of his death he had received recognition in the upper echelons of the art world; admitted to the Royal Academy at the age of 75, had received three honorary Doctor of Letters degrees, and been given the freedom of the city of Salford, and had declined no less than five honours, including a knighthood.
In spite of holding down full-time employment all his working life and caring for his invalid mother, he was an obsessive painter, principally of the industrial landscapes of the areas of Salford, Pendlebury, and Mottram where he lived, on the edge of Manchester. He portrayed the working-class homes, streets, factories and places of leisure of the people he knew so well. At first sight, many of his paintings could be described as gloomy and depressing, but closer inspection of the figures who populated his canvases show the resilience and courage of ordinary people confronting the poverty and tragedy of Northern working-class life of the early twentieth century. By the 1950’s Lowry had begun to produce works that were brighter and more cheerful, introducing seascapes and beach crowds, country landscapes, and more varied subjects such as London’s Picadilly Circus, portraits, and paintings of his enigmatic fantasy figure “Ann”.
Laurence Stephen Lowry was a fascinating and complex man of many parts and often difficult to understand; humble, self-effacing, often lonely and isolated, and sometimes bearing a degree of resentment at his own experiences in life. Yet his art is haunting and unforgettable, resonating with deep feeling, and well worth returning to again and again for another look.
