Stockport

1953
Lowndes, Alan
This painting shows the artist's native town of Stockport. Lowndes was born in one of its suburbs, Heaton Norris, in 1921. He left school at 14, and was apprenticed to a decorator. After serving in the army in World War II and seeing action in Italy and the Middle East, he began to study painting in the evenings at Stockport College. His paintings, mainly done in oils, depicted scenes of everyday life in Northern industrial towns: 'I know every stick and stone here. I paint what I know'. His father, however, offered to pay for Lowndes to go to Alderley Edge, a village in nearby Cheshire, so that he could 'paint some nicer scenery'. His work began to be shown in galleries in the North of England and then later in London and New York. In 1959, Lowndes moved to St Ives in Cornwall. Here, he became associated with the St Ives School and became a close friend of many of its artists, including Sir Terry Frost. Frost was a great admirer of Lowndes' works declaring that he found them to be better than those of L. S. Lowry. Charlotte Booth
  • Artwork Details: 76.2 x 63.5cm
  • Edition:
  • Material description: oil on canvas
  • Credit line: © Estate of Alan Lowndes. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2011
  • Theme: Urban Scene
  • Medium: Painting
  • Accession number: ACA 57

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