Crane Kalman Gallery
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Artists
  • Exhibitions
  • News
  • Publications
  • About
  • Contact
Cart
0 items £
Checkout

Item added to cart

View cart & checkout
Continue shopping
Menu
L.S. Lowry RA (1887-1976)
A 70th Anniversary Exhibition, 21 October - 10 December 2022

L.S. Lowry RA (1887-1976): A 70th Anniversary Exhibition

Past exhibition
  • Overview
  • Works
  • Publications
Overview
The Spire. 1961
The Spire. 1961

An exhibition to mark the 70th anniversary of Crane Kalman Gallery's long association with L.S. Lowry who first visited the Crane Gallery (as it was then known)  located in Manchester.

 

In the winter of 1949, Andras Kalman opened a gallery in a basement air-raid shelter in South King Street, where the weekly £2 rent was paid by the regular pawning of his typewriter. By a lot of persuasion and not a little charm, both of which he can display in abundance, he managed to obtain for his first exhibition, works by Sir Jacob Epstein, Matthew Smith, Lucian Freud and John Craxton. Invitations to a private view were sent to every influential name he could discover, from members of the Art Gallery Committee to town councillors. No one came. Not one single dignitary, critic or buyer had either replied or responded.

 

The second exhibition threatened to be as great a disaster as the first. On the third day Lowry appeared; down the steps he came, buzzing like a bluebottle around the gallery until, summing up the situation, he bought a picture. Kalman recalls, 'It cost him about £20 and I think he bought it only to give my morale a boost.'

 

Kalman already knew of Lowry by repute as a 'conversational painter, regarded with great suspicion locally.' Now he was to know the man. Visits to the gallery were followed by trips across the road for tea at Fuller's, where they ate walnut cake and discussed for hours their own highly individual views on dealers and artists. ('London's dealers', said Kalman, 'consider themselves more important than the artists, sitting in their galleries like brothel-keepers of Amsterdam.' 'In reality,' said Lowry, 'they are just grocers who sell paintings.')

 

Kalman became fiercely resentful of the establishment's treatment of his friend: 'You had to see that this was an exceptional man; his whole way of life, speaking, eating, were against the norm. There was a strong integrity about him-you had to be an insensitive moron not to see it in the man.'

 

In the year that Kalman first exhibited Lowry's work in 1952 (it was not a notable success) the artist reached his 65th birthday. All the time he had continued to work as cashier and bookkeeper at the Pall Mall (Property Company) and he now retired with a pension of £200 a year.

 

Ironically, in 1952, one of his works had been bought by the Museum of Modern Art in New York; there is no doubt that if Kalman had tried to sell them in London, Paris or even in Canada, he would have met with considerably less resistance than he encountered in Manchester. In those early days Kalman was struggling not only to sell Lowry, but any painter. (So) Kalman transferred to Knightsbridge in 1957, having abandoned Manchester where he had not once in ten years been invited into a private home and still felt himself to be regarded as 'a bloody foreigner'.

  • ONLINE CATALOGUE
Share
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email
Download List of Works
Works
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Ship Entering Glasgow Dock , 1947
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Ship Entering Glasgow Dock , 1947
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Untitled (Man at Door), 1962
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Untitled (Man at Door), 1962
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Spire, 1960
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Spire, 1960
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Old Farm Buildings, Worsley, 1913
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Old Farm Buildings, Worsley, 1913
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, A Football Match, 1932
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, A Football Match, 1932
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Street scene with large central figure carrying a board, c. 1970
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Street scene with large central figure carrying a board, c. 1970
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Girl Seen from the Front , 1964
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Girl Seen from the Front , 1964
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Head of a Man, 1920
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Head of a Man, 1920
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Girl Seen from the Back, 1964
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Girl Seen from the Back, 1964
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, On the shore at Maryport, 1966
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, On the shore at Maryport, 1966
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Market Place
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Market Place
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Old Building, Edinburgh, 1937
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Old Building, Edinburgh, 1937
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Gate Posts , 1938
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Gate Posts , 1938
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Portrait of Ann, undated
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Portrait of Ann, undated
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Sea, 1947
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Sea, 1947
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Figures Talking, 1965
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Figures Talking, 1965
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Untitled (interior with figures) c. 1925
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Untitled (interior with figures) c. 1925
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Head of a girl / Girl with blonde hair, undated
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Head of a girl / Girl with blonde hair, undated
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Boiler Works , c. 1942
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Boiler Works , c. 1942
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Houses and Fencing, c. 1920
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Houses and Fencing, c. 1920
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Boiler Works II, c. 1942
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Boiler Works II, c. 1942
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Portrait of a man , 1920
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Portrait of a man , 1920
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, (Untitled) Figure In Bed, undated
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, (Untitled) Figure In Bed, undated
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Untitled (Large Figure full length in profile) , 1968
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Untitled (Large Figure full length in profile) , 1968
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Untiled (Seven Figures and Seven Dogs) , 1973
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Untiled (Seven Figures and Seven Dogs) , 1973
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Landscape in Wigan, 1925
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Landscape in Wigan, 1925
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Group of figures with birds on top of their heads, undated
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Group of figures with birds on top of their heads, undated
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Haunt, 1969
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Haunt, 1969
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Hyde Town Hall , 1960
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Hyde Town Hall , 1960
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Untitled (Five Figures and Boy Holding Dog’s Tail), 1968
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Untitled (Five Figures and Boy Holding Dog’s Tail), 1968
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Man Eating a Sandwich , 1961
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Man Eating a Sandwich , 1961
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Industrial Scene with Monument , 1972
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Industrial Scene with Monument , 1972
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Man with Trilby Hat, undated
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Man with Trilby Hat, undated
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Stormy Sea , 1968
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Stormy Sea , 1968
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Spittal Sands, Berwick
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Spittal Sands, Berwick
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Grey Sea, 1947
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Grey Sea, 1947
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Four Animal Shapes facing a group of figures and a dog , 1973
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Four Animal Shapes facing a group of figures and a dog , 1973
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Man Seated in the National Gallery, 1967
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Man Seated in the National Gallery, 1967
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Interrogation, 1962
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, The Interrogation, 1962
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Waiting for the Tide, 1967
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Waiting for the Tide, 1967
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, On Location, 1956
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, On Location, 1956
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, Hills and Sea, 1959
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, Hills and Sea, 1959
  • Laurence Stephen Lowry, View of Whitby , 1955
    Laurence Stephen Lowry, View of Whitby , 1955
Publications
  • L.S. LOWRY RA (1887–1976) at Crane Kalman Gallery

    L.S. LOWRY RA (1887–1976) at Crane Kalman Gallery

    a 70th Anniversary Exhibition 2022
    Hardcover
    Read more

Related artist

  • Laurence Stephen Lowry

    Laurence Stephen Lowry

Back to exhibitions

SIGN UP TO OUR MAILING LIST

Instagram, opens in a new tab.
Twitter, opens in a new tab.
Facebook, opens in a new tab.
Send an email
Privacy Policy
Manage cookies
Copyright © 2025 Crane Kalman Gallery
Site by Artlogic

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences