Whilst L.S. Lowry’s mother’s never cared for her son’s paintings of industrial scenes, she did greatly admire her son’s paintings of seascapes featuring Lytham St. Anne’s. One of her very favourite paintings was one of his oils – Yachts At Lytham (pictured below). A similar painting (the featured image above) was up for auction at Tennants Fine Art Auctioneers on March 20th.
Lowry truly loved Lytham St.Anne’s, sketching and painting local seascapes throughout his long career. These are not as famous as his industrial scenes with ‘match -stalk men and match-stalk cats and dogs’ – but these seascapes are the favourites of many art critics. Unlike his industrial scenes, filled with scurrying figures, Lowry’s seascapes are imbued with a sense of calm and nostalgia for his holidays on the North West Coast.
The oil on panel painting of ‘Yachts At Lytham’ is described in the Tennants catalogue as exemplifying Lowry’s masterly use of flake-white, which is beautifully employed in this painting as the sea and sky merge into one. The Lytham yachts provide notes of colour and movement against the light filled, shimmering sky. It was signed and dated in 1951 and measures 9 inches by 14 inches.
Sadly the painting currently remains unsold, not reaching its pre-sale reserve of £250,000 (plus buyer’s premium). Pictured immediately below is Lowry’s mother’s favourite painting from his visits to Lytham St. Anne’s which hung on Lowry’s bedroom wall until his death in 1976.
Here are two more Lowry seascapes from his visits to Lytham St. Anne’s.
