Critical Review
Drawn in a larger portrait format than any of the artist’s other lithographs, Village On A Hill by L. S. Lowry is a print from 1966 that shows a long, wide street leading up a hill to a small town and a bridge crossing a river that cuts through the centre of the composition. The scene is drawn from an elevated view that appears almost like a bird’s eye view and is therefore likely to be a composite image drawn from the artist’s memory.
Until the final years of his life Lowry continued to draw obsessively, producing over 8,000 works, many like this one that were created from memory and with a high level of artistic licence. It is clear that Village On A Hill was produced quickly by Lowry, due to the print’s loose lines and simplistic shapes used to depict the dramatic, flowing landscape. Importantly, Lowry saw drawing as a medium in its own right, not just as an important step in producing paintings.
Lowry’s lithographs like Village On A Hill are produced by hand whereby a plate is etched and inked, and the paper is then pressed onto the plate to produce an original. Due to this printing process, no two prints are exactly the same. Editions like these are therefore relatively small, in this case 75, and as a result they are rare and highly sought after items.
