Critical Review
Landscape with Farm Buildings is an example of Lowry’s interest in the way the industrial revolution changed the urban and rural landscape of Britain in the Victorian Era. There are recurring elements such as the fences around countryside farms from around Lancashire that later reappear in his more famous paintings of industrialist urban scenery, such as River Scene from 1935, showing a bleak waste land with remainders of broken fences and gates, also seen in this image. Through these symbols, Lowry aims to represent the trajectory of smaller, British rural communities growing into larger modern towns through a phase of rapid industrialisation by the 19th century. The original painting of Landscape with Farm Buildings is currently displayed at the Norwich Castle Museum, its acquisition in 1955 aided by the Norfolk Contemporary Arts Society. This was co-founded by David Carr, Lowry’s long-time friend and ardent collector, who was its first president.
