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Lot Essay
The desolate emptiness implied in the present work can be viewed as a reflection of the artist's personal isolation. Although Lowry generally rejected interpretative readings of his work, Mervyn Levy comments that 'Desolate landscapes, like the empty seascapes, figure prominently in his work ... All in their varying ways are portraits of life of the artist. The autobiographical element in Lowry's work is always very strong, and often only thinly veiled' (M. Levy, The Paintings of L.S. Lowry, London, 1975, p. 21).
A solitary building in a bleak landscape is a recurring motif in Lowry's paintings, and one that connects the present work with others where the central element becomes an expression of the loneliness that Lowry felt throughout his life. The central path, drawing us towards the isolated industrial buildings, dominates the lower portion of the painting. No people are depicted, although the buildings themselves and the steaming chimneys denote human activity and existence. Lowry often used the technique of a path leading us inexorably into his isolated buildings (see for example A house on the moor; Heathcliff's House, Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 22 November 2002, lot 59).
A solitary building in a bleak landscape is a recurring motif in Lowry's paintings, and one that connects the present work with others where the central element becomes an expression of the loneliness that Lowry felt throughout his life. The central path, drawing us towards the isolated industrial buildings, dominates the lower portion of the painting. No people are depicted, although the buildings themselves and the steaming chimneys denote human activity and existence. Lowry often used the technique of a path leading us inexorably into his isolated buildings (see for example A house on the moor; Heathcliff's House, Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 22 November 2002, lot 59).