1944 - Canal Bridge

Canal Bridge 1944

Oil on Board

47.5 x 30 cm

'Canal Bridge' depicts the top lock at Fairfield on the Ashton Canal, which was completed in 1797 and joined Manchester with Ashton-under-Lyne. It would have been well known to Lowry, whose work was often based on familiar local places and believed that you should ‘paint the place you know’.

In this painting the main focus is the hump-back bridge, which was built high enough to allow horse-drawn barges laden with goods to pass under it.