Laurence Stephen Lowry R.A.

(British, 1887-1976)

Factory in Snow 35.5 x 25.4 cm. (14 x 10 in.)

Footnotes

Provenance
The Artist, from whom acquired by
Fred Uhlman, thence by descent to the present owner
Private Collection, U.K.

Exhibited
London, Royal Academy of Arts, L.S. Lowry R.A., 1887-1976, 4 September-14 November 1976, cat.no.191 (where dated 1951)

Literature
Royal Academy of Arts, L.S. Lowry R.A., 1887-1976, Hillingdon Press, Uxbridge, 1976, p.78, cat.no.191 (ill.b&w)

By the 1950s, much of the urban landscape that Lowry had painted and drawn time and time again in the preceding years was changing. His beloved factories and buildings were being torn down to make way for the regeneration of the poorer parts of the city and improved living conditions for those that lived there. As a result, the artist began to look elsewhere for new vantage points, finding inspiration both in local rural areas and the city parks.

The present work is one such example dating from 1950, depicting a scene from within a park. The winding path guides the eye across the canvas from left to right, past two figures walking a dog and up through the centre of the composition leading us, as ever, to the factory and buildings beyond the gates. The title of the work informs us that this is not just Lowry's usual preference for painting the ground white, but here represents a chilly winter's day. A chimney in the distance belches smoke into a leaden sky, heavy with the memory of recent snowfall and the promise of more to come. Michael Howard comments of this effect that 'it is reminiscent of paintings by Camille Pissarro, with Lowry's white ground rendering exactly the qualities of the tainted urban snow as it lies like a blanket over the street' (Michael Howard, Lowry, A Visionary Artist, Lowry Press, Salford, 2000, p.142). Snow scenes by Lowry are rare, with just one other example having ever been offered at auction, titled Street Scene in the Snow it sold for £285,250 (Sale; Christies, London, 19 November 2004, Lot 133).

Indeed, the subject may have played a part in the previous ownership of the painting. Fred Uhlman (1901-1985) was a talented artist who himself frequently painted snow scenes and may have acquired Factory in Snow in homage to the great master's efforts in this area. Uhlman was born and raised in Germany but moved to Paris in 1933, just two months after Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor, before ultimately setting up home in London's Hampstead three years later. His work is represented in many important public galleries such as the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.