The Matchstick Man
One of the most enjoyable parts of my trip to Manchester didn't happen in Manchester. A tram ride from the city centre, in Salford, is The Lowry Centre. It's a massive arts and entertainment complex, opened in 2000 and named in honour of Laurence Stephen Lowry. Local hero Lowry is famous for his paintings of matchstick men and street scenes from industrial Lancashire. Naturally, this museum has the biggest collection of Lowrys and very nice they are too.The captions are excellent, offering not only a description of each piece, but commentaries by celebrities and local children. Of all the pictures on display, Going to the Match was my favourite. He painted it in 1953, and I think it captures the mood of anticipation as the men, relieved of a hard week in the cotton mills, hurry towards the stadium.
A film about Lowry's life showed him at work. He was often thought of as a talented amateur, although he did go to art school. "If I'm a Sunday painter," he said, "then I'm a Sunday painter who paints every day of the week."
But he had other demands. Aside from his day job as a rent collector, Lowry looked after his mother, who took to her bed for eight years after the death of his father. She dominated through frailty. But he was a devoted son, cooking and cleaning for her and tending to her bedsores.
After her death, he continued painting,but only became successful towards the end of this life. He died in 1976, just missing a retrospective of his work at the Royal Academy that broke all attendance records for a twentieth century artist.
As well as Lowry, other exhibitions feature the work of Dame Laura Knight (theatre and ballet paintings) and the video artwork of John Wood and Paul Harrison. These are especially distracting. One shows a single sheet of paper being kept upright by a desk fan either side of it, while another has a photocopier churning out page after page, each showing a toy boat slowly making its way across the horizon. Very clever, but not sure what Mr Lowry might have to say about it.