Critical Review
The Lonely House is one of Lowry’s less populated, more serene pictures, where his subject matter gravitates away from the usual busy urban scenery towards quieter landscapes. It was based on a previous drawing, House on Botany, Clifton from 1926, which is now with the City of Salford Art Gallery. It carries the signature bleak and somewhat sombre atmosphere dominating most Lowry pieces – the rusty red, lonesome house stands against a white sky in a deserted countryside landscape, a row of trees fading into the background and a broken wooden fence. Three figures, one with striking red clothing, are the only traces of a human presence on the image. A related anecdote is when Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw, Mayor of Manchester between 1975 – 76, who met Lowry in 1967 at dinner told him she had purchased this painting. The artist then drew a small sketch of the work on her napkin.
