Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/l-s-lowry-1533" aria-label="More by L.S. Lowry" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">L.S. Lowry</a>
Old House Grove Street Salford
Purchased 1951
adults
architecture
England
England, Northern
figure
house
Lancashire
leisure and pastimes
people
places
railing
recreational activities
residential
Salford, Grove Street
street
streetlight
townscapes / man-made features
UK cities, towns and villages
UK counties
UK countries and regions
walking
<p>This picture of 1948 was based on a pencil drawing of 1927 and was made as true to the drawing as possible. A distinctive characteristic of Lowry's work is his use of a white background and the elimination of shadows which gives his pictures a naive and dreamlike quality. He started using pure flake white as a base for his paintings in the 1920s. This was a result of an argument with his teacher Bernard D. Taylor, who thought Lowry's pictures were too dark. Lowry later discovered, to his pleasure, that the flake white turned creamy grey-white over the years.</p><p><em>Gallery label, September 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
The Old House, Grove Street, Salford
support: 457 × 610 mm
frame: 610 × 760 × 110 mm
Purchased 1951
<p>This picture of 1948 was based on a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/g/graphite" title="Glossary definition for 'Graphite'"><span>pencil</span></a> <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/d/drawing" title="Glossary definition for 'Drawing'"><span>drawing</span></a> of 1927 and was made as true to the drawing as possible. A distinctive characteristic of Lowry's work is his use of a white background and the elimination of shadows which gives his pictures a naive and dreamlike quality. He started using pure flake white as a base for his <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>paintings</span></a> in the 1920s. This was a result of an argument with his teacher Bernard D. Taylor, who thought Lowry's pictures were too dark. Lowry later discovered, to his pleasure, that the flake white turned creamy grey-white over the years.</p>
Display caption
2004-09-02T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N05992</b>	THE OLD HOUSE, GROVE STREET, SALFORD 1948
<br/> 
<br/>Inscr. ‘L. S. Lowry 1948’ b.l.
<br/>Canvas, 18×24 (45·5×61); there is a black framing line at top, bottom and right-hand side.
<br/>Purchased from the artist through the Lefevre Gallery (Knapping Fund) 1951.
<br/><i>Exh:</i>
Lefevre Gallery, March 1951 (37).</p>
<p>Based on a careful <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/g/graphite" title="Glossary definition for 'Graphite'"><span>pencil</span></a> <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/d/drawing" title="Glossary definition for 'Drawing'"><span>drawing</span></a> made in 1927; ‘the picture is as like the drawing as I could make it in 1948’ (letter from the artist, 21 January 1956).</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, I
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-08T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults architecture England England, Northern figure house Lancashire leisure and pastimes people places railing recreational activities residential Salford, Grove Street street streetlight townscapes / man-made features UK cities, towns and villages UK counties UK countries and regions walking