Name: Seaside Promenade
Brand: L S Lowry
Rating: 5 (231 reviews)

Meaning & Analysis

L. S. Lowry’s lithograph Seaside Promenade from 1967 shows a seascape image with large boats and ships moving across the water, and onlookers in the foreground watching from the promenade. After the war, as Lowry tired of his industrial landscapes that he is so famous for, he transported his trademark ‘matchstick-figures’ into rural scenes and seascapes.

The sea was a significant source of inspiration for Lowry. During the 1960s, the artist regularly visited the northeast, staying at the Seaburn Hotel in Sunderland in a room from which he could see the North Sea. The scene is viewed from an elevated position so as to depict the view that stretches far into the distance, as though the artist was looking out from his hotel room. Rather than focus on the effects of weather and light on the sea and sky as would be expected of a typical seascape, Lowry’s drawing focuses on the presence of people and their leisure activities at the seaside.

Lowry’s lithographs Seaside Promenade 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.

L. S. LOWRY, SEASIDE PROMENADE, SIGNED LITHOGRAPH, EDITION OF 75, 1967

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.”

Born in 1887, L. S. Lowry was a key figure in 20th century British painting. Known for his distinctive painterly style and 'matchstick men', Lowry aimed to put industry on the map by typically focusing on scenes from his hometown in the North West of England. The naivety of his art drew criticism, yet has stood the test of time with the artist becoming a household name. Lowry has consistently performed in the secondary market, with works such as Going To The Match achieving a value of £2,919,000 in 2021 and the editioned prints remaining highly sought after.