L. S. Lowry's painting: Waiting for the shop to open
IV/ Written work:
2. Waiting for the Shop to Open
Waiting for the shop to open (1943) is a painting by L. S. Lowry. Laurence Stephen Lowry was an English painter and became well-known for his oil paintings of industrial and urban landscapes of the North of England in the mid-20th century.
The scene of the painting takes place in a street which is in front of a greengrocer's shop called “fish and fruit”. Furthermore, the number of the street, 117, on the door’s shop was the same as Lowry’s house: 117 Station Road, Pendlebury.
In the foreground, there are people queuing outside and waiting for the shop to open. Scenes of waiting in queues were very common during the wartime in England. In this line of customers there are elderly people and also middle-aged with their children. The shop is on the left hand-side of the painting, it has a placard with the name of the greengrocer’s shop and beneath it there is the number of the street which is significant because it’s a reference to the place where the scene is happening and where J. S. Lowry lived. Most of his work are scenes of life in Pendlebury and its surroundings (Greater Manchester).
In the background, there are factories and houses with chimneys and aerials, very frequent and characteristic landscape in Lowry’s style, such as the crowds of simple dark figures, also referred to as “matchstick men”.
Besides, the lack of colours in the background contrasts with the foreground since in the front there are plenty of colours and dark tones, however, in the background there is an absence of them, the artist uses the white for the environment and a few other colours to shape the scene. This is why L. S. Lowry was known as a “Sunday painter” due to the simple human figures and the lack of weather effects.
In Waiting for the shop to open we can clearly see the war artist’s style, a landscape of an industrial district during a shortage in 1940s and how L. S. Lowry remarked: "If people call me a Sunday painter,
2. Waiting for the Shop to Open
Waiting for the shop to open (1943) is a painting by L. S. Lowry. Laurence Stephen Lowry was an English painter and became well-known for his oil paintings of industrial and urban landscapes of the North of England in the mid-20th century.
The scene of the painting takes place in a street which is in front of a greengrocer's shop called “fish and fruit”. Furthermore, the number of the street, 117, on the door’s shop was the same as Lowry’s house: 117 Station Road, Pendlebury.
In the foreground, there are people queuing outside and waiting for the shop to open. Scenes of waiting in queues were very common during the wartime in England. In this line of customers there are elderly people and also middle-aged with their children. The shop is on the left hand-side of the painting, it has a placard with the name of the greengrocer’s shop and beneath it there is the number of the street which is significant because it’s a reference to the place where the scene is happening and where J. S. Lowry lived. Most of his work are scenes of life in Pendlebury and its surroundings (Greater Manchester).
In the background, there are factories and houses with chimneys and aerials, very frequent and characteristic landscape in Lowry’s style, such as the crowds of simple dark figures, also referred to as “matchstick men”.
Besides, the lack of colours in the background contrasts with the foreground since in the front there are plenty of colours and dark tones, however, in the background there is an absence of them, the artist uses the white for the environment and a few other colours to shape the scene. This is why L. S. Lowry was known as a “Sunday painter” due to the simple human figures and the lack of weather effects.
In Waiting for the shop to open we can clearly see the war artist’s style, a landscape of an industrial district during a shortage in 1940s and how L. S. Lowry remarked: "If people call me a Sunday painter,