Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887-1976)

Print Painter, born in Manchester, Lancashire. He took private classes with the painter William Fitz before working as a clerk in a firm of chartered accountants in 1904. During the period 1905-15 Lowry studied at Manchester College of Art and Design under Adolphe Valette and in 1910 began to work as a rent collector, a career that was to occupy him for many years. Between 1915-20 he studied at Salford School of Art, and began to take an interest in city scenes. Lowry exhibited at the Manchester Society of Modern Painters in 1925 and first exhibited at the RA in 1932. He also showed at the Lefevre Gallery from 1939 where he subsequently exhibited regularly and at the NS, PS and many other important venues. He did not eschew his home town and also showed at the MAFA and his work was also reproduced in the Pictures for Schools series. A retrospective exhibition was held at the RA in 1976 after his demise. Until 1952 Lowry continu