1946 - The Meeting Place

The Meeting Place 1946

Oil on Panel

22 x 20.5 cm

Sold [November 2011] for £51,650 including premium

Signed and Dated 'L.S. LOWRY 1946' (lower right)

PROVENANCE

With The Lefevre Gallery, London

Private Collection, New York

With Crane Kalman Gallery, London, where purchased by the present owner in February 2002

In The Meeting Place Lowry delicately captures the isolation of the almost ghost-like figures set against the thick, heavy smog of the industrial setting. The brushwork of the two seated figures is especially thin and light, with the panel almost visible, in comparison to the heavy brushwork of the grey and uncompromising landscape seen behind the railings. Even the street lamp cannot offer a glimmer of hope in this dark and lonely setting of Second World War Britain. 

With the mass demolition that faced many industrial regions following the war, Lowry began to turn his attention towards the depiction of the individuals within the scene. Lowry's figures begin to take on a greater depth of character, especially in his depictions of derelicts, tramps, vagrants and other 'outsider' figures, which is already visible by 1946, the year this small work was painted.