ARTIST LS Lowry
Artist in Residence To mark a new exhibition of unseen photos of LS Lowry, Mark Littler reveals everything you need to know about collecting the iconic artist’s prints
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n a cold, grey day in early 1966 the young photographer Clive Arrowsmith turned up on the doorstep of the artist LS Lowry at his home in Mottram-in-Longdendale, near Manchester. The rookie photographer, who went on to become one of the most celebrated photographers of his generation, was on commission for the August edition of the recently-launched magazine Nova. Lowry, then aged 78, was already a successful artist and used to being interviewed and photographed but he could be cynical and suspicious of visitors. While initially guarded – one photograph, taken before the door even opened, shows him off-guard and slightly vulnerable – the artist soon began to relax. And after the less than auspicious start, the shoot developed into an extended session as the artist warmed to Arrowsmith, who was only in his late teens. As it turned out, Nova only ever published a small selection of the shots taken over the two days, with the remaining images stored in Arrowsmith’s
10 ANTIQUE COLLECTING
attic archive, where they remained until they were uncovered by his daughter, Eugenie, who was cataloguing her father’s work. The photographs will now form part of a major exhibition called Lowry at Home: Salford 1966 – Unseen photographs by Clive Arrowsmith, which will run at The Lowry, Salford, from 10 June to 24 September. The photographs also show Lowry on the streets of Salford – the setting for many of his iconic industrial scenes. Claire Stewart, curator of the LS Lowry collection at The Lowry, said: “Lowry was an incredibly private man, which makes Clive’s images all the more special. They show the very sparse nature of his home life, from where he painted some of his most famous work. Needless to say, we were very excited to receive Eugenie’s call and are delighted to be sharing them with the world for the very first time.” Clive Arrowsmith said: “The Lowry shoot was such a graphic insight into Lowry’s hidden life. Having been a painter up until this time, it was this project that changed my mind to photography.”
‘The fortunate survival of the unpublished photographs gives us a fascinating insight in to the life of one of Britain’s best-known artists’