An Accident

Laurence Stephen Lowry 1887 - 1976

Summary

A scene inspired by an incident in Pendlebury, Manchester, where a woman committed suicide by drowning. Seen against a backdrop of terraced houses, civic and industrial buildings, which are arranged across the background of the composition rather like a stage set against which the activity happens, a large crowd of people have gathered. In the foreground is an expanse of open space dotted with numerous figures coming from all directions to congregate at the lower right-hand corner of the scene, crowding around the victim of 'the accident'. Figures can also been seen populating the strangely large spaces between the background buildings. The more distant buildings appear hazy, probably caused by the volumes of smoke pouring from the industrial chimneys within the scene. The sky and ground are almost the same pale colour.

Display Label

An Accident 1926 L.S. Lowry 1887-1976 Oil on panel From 1905 to 1915 Lowry studied life drawing in Valette's evening classes at the School of Art. He continued his association with Valette in the 1920s when both exhibited at the Society of Modern Painters. Lowry's early industrial scenes, like this one with its pearly tones and smoky skies, show the closest affinity with Valette's art. However, Lowry's paintings are not real scenes but composite ones made up from different elements, first seen and then distilled through his imagination. Lowry also orchestrates his figures in a unique way which effectively suggests crowd reaction to an accident, in this case a woman found drowned in a canal. Purchased 1930.153