1948 - Millworkers

Millworkers 1948
Oil on Canvas

62 x 70 cm
Harris Museum & Art Gallery

This wintry northern townscape populated with solitary figures perhaps shows Lowry’s feelings of isolation. He once said, ‘Had I not been lonely, none of my work would have happened’.

Flake-white ground gives the sky its bleak colour, contrasting sharply with the buildings and skeletal pithead. It is characteristic of Lowry, who adopted this technique after hurtful criticism from an art tutor. Although his work is often perceived as childlike, Manchester-born Lowry was an accomplished artist who turned down a Knighthood and other honours.