L. S. LOWRY, HILLSIDE, SIGNED LITHOGRAPH, EDITION OF 75, 1967
Rendered in black ink against white paper, Hillside is a lithograph print by L. S. Lowry from 1967 that shows a scene of many people taking their leisure time in the park. This is a dynamic composition due to the rolling hills that dominate the frame and the rows of figures that follow the shapes of the hills.
This print is representative of Lowry’s desire to combine a sense of urban life within a rural environment, showing groups of people from the industrial city on their day out to the country park. Lowry depicts a diverse group of people, children holding hands, families pushing prams and elderly figures in their winter coats. The artist was keen to investigate the lives of working people in their leisure time through his art, offering viewers a sympathetic vision of the working classes that was not often depicted in British art.
Lowry’s lithographs like Hillside 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.
Discover more L.S. Lowry artworks.
ABOUT L. S. LOWRY
L.S. Lowry is a much-loved British painter known for pictures that capture urban life in industrial north west England, most notably during the 1920s. Born in 1887 in Stretford, Lancashire, Laurence Stephen Lowry later moved to Pendlebury near Manchester where he lived and worked for over 40 years. The area, which he at first detested, was covered in factories and cotton mills that Lowry would soon obsessively depict. His fascination with the industrial landscapes and the people that inhabited them was inspired by a missed train. Standing on the platform at Pendlebury station, Lowry would later write of the view of the Acme Spinning Company’s mill, saying “I watched this scene – which I’d look at many times without seeing – with rapture.” Learn more about L. S. Lowry.
