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Painting: Sunday Afternoon

~ beetleypete ~ 35 Comments

Laurence Stephen Lowry RBA RA; 1 November 1887 – 23 February 1976 was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Greater Manchester (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years), as well as Salford and its vicinity. Lowry painted scenes of life in the industrial districts of North West England in the mid-20th century. He developed a distinctive style of painting and is best known for his urban landscapes peopled with human figures, often referred to as “matchstick men”. His use of stylised figures which cast no shadows, and lack of weather effects in many of his landscapes led critics to label him a naïve “Sunday painter”.

I have chosen his 1957 painting ‘Sunday Afternoon’, depicting the local people on the only day off from work for most of them. The park in the centre is crowded, and the smoke belching from the factories in the distance reminds us that the industry of the region never stops working. The details are tiny, but there are many of them. This painting was kept in a private collection for many years, and not openly displayed from 1957 until February this year, when it was sold for £6,300,000.

As I write this, I have no idea where (or if) it can currently be viewed.

Painting: The Lady Of Shalott

~ beetleypete ~ 54 Comments

The Lady of Shalott was painted in 1888 by the English artist John William Waterhouse. It is a representation of the ending of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s 1832 poem of the same name. It depicts a scene from Tennyson’s poem in which the poet describes the plight and the predicament of a young woman, loosely based on the figure of Elaine of Astolat from medieval Arthurian legend, who yearned with an unrequited love for the knight Sir Lancelot. The Lady of Shalott was donated to the public by Sir Henry Tate in 1894 and is usually on display in Tate Britain, London, in room 1840.

I remember seeing this painting as a teenager and thinking the details were incredible, especially in the quilt. I also thought that the woman stll looked contemporary in 1960s London, almost like a hippie.

Painting: Meeting On The Turret Stairs

~ beetleypete ~ 43 Comments

Frederic William Burton was from Ireland, but worked extensively in London where he later became the director of the National Gallery.

This was painted in 1864, and depicts Hellelil and Hildebrand inside the turret of a castle. The detail is amazing, and the emotion captured is palpable.

The subject is taken from a medieval Danish ballad translated by Burton’s friend Whitley Stokes in 1855, which tells the story of Hellelil, who fell in love with her personal guard Hildebrand, Prince of Engelland. Her father disapproved of the relationship and ordered her seven brothers to kill the young prince.