Published: 04/11/2026
The Lowry exhibition at MK Gallery is now open and can be visited until February 28th 2027. It marks the fiftieth anniversary of the painter's death and includes some 140 paintings and sketches from across his career. Judging by my visit, it is proving to be a popular exhibition and reflects Lowry's status as a favourite British artist.
The work on show includes the expected scenes showing northern industrial landscapes populated with people on the move. These are the type of pictures for which Lowry is best known and were imaginative recreations of what he saw as he walked about the city as a rent collector. The paintings of this type use five colours and bring out the figures by using a white background. There are also items that reflect lesser known sides of his work such as seascapes, surrealist pictures and portraits. There are pictures he created of a woman, who he called Ann, and whose identity is not known for certain but whose portraits reflect a pre-Raphaelite influence.
What comes across is an artist who had extensive training, who kept his art and his job separate and who was knowingly aware of art history and trends. For example, when it was suggested he add a factory chimney to a stylised landscape, he refused saying if he did, he would be called Salvador Lowry.
As the gallery website says "Lowry’s career ran alongside huge changes in British society which saw the workers, mills, terraced housing and urban landscapes he painted bombed, cleared and replaced".
Recommended.
