Alan Lowndes (1921–1978) was a British painter known primarily for his scenes of northern life. He also spent time in
St Ives, and he was a close friend of many of the
St Ives School artists.
Life
Lowndes was born in
Heaton Norris
Heaton Norris is a suburb of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is one of the Four Heatons, along with neighbours Heaton Chapel, Heaton Mersey and Heaton Moor. Originally within the boundaries of the Historic ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, a suburb of
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...
in 1921, the fourth child of Samuel Lowndes, a railway clerk, and his wife Helen Morrey (died 1924) from
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...
. He left school at 14, and was apprenticed to a decorator.
In
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Lowndes saw active service in South-west Asia and
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. After the war he studied painting at night school, but was largely self-taught. He began to achieve success in the late 1950s and early 1960s in the period when northern writers such as
Stan Barstow,
John Braine and
Alan Sillitoe were also coming to the fore.
Work
Lowndes had one man exhibitions in Manchester, London and New York and is represented in many public collections. Although often compared to
L. S. Lowry, he is considered by
Terry Frost to be a greater painter. Alan Lowndes died in
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
in 1978.
Grayson Perry
Sir Grayson Perry (born 24 March 1960) is an English artist. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "prejudices, fashions and foib ...
selected work by Lowndes for his Unpopular Culture exhibition (2008).
In 2021, the centenary of Lowndes’ birth was marked by an exhibition at the
Crane Kalman Gallery, London. In reviewing this exhibition David Nowell Smith of the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...
said “It’s time for Alan Lowndes to emerge from L.S. Lowry’s shadow”.
See also
*
List of St. Ives artists
References
External links
*
Works by Lowndes in the Tate collection
1921 births
Artists from Stockport
20th-century English painters
English male painters
St Ives artists
1978 deaths
British expatriates in Italy
British military personnel of World War II
20th-century English male artists
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