Masculinity and Isolation in the Self-Portraits of L.S. Lowry
The 2013 Tate Britain exhibition *Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life* argued that L.S. Lowry (Laurence Stephen Lowry) was primarily "a painter of the industrial city and its working class". I nuance this social-realist narrative by analysing Lowry's self-portraits with regar...
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Yale University
2023-11-01
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| Series: | British Art Studies |
| Online Access: | https://britishartstudies.ac.uk/issues/25/masculinity-and-isolation-in-the-self-portraits-of-lowry/ |
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| author | Ella Nixon |
| author_facet | Ella Nixon |
| author_sort | Ella Nixon |
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The 2013 Tate Britain exhibition *Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life* argued that L.S. Lowry (Laurence Stephen Lowry) was primarily "a painter of the industrial city and its working class". I nuance this social-realist narrative by analysing Lowry's self-portraits with regard to understandings of masculinity, in particular the "Manchester Man" ideal. This article argues that, through his self-portraits, Lowry negotiated the contradiction between his ambition to paint and the pressure to earn a wage as the household breadwinner. These conflicting identities---understood by Lowry especially through the writings of French philosopher François de La Rochefoucauld---had repercussions for his physical and mental health, as portrayed in his self-portraits of the 1930s and later metaphorical self-portraits. Overall, I argue that his paintings provide emotionally complex perspectives on his inner life and self-fashioning as an artist, in light of shifting expectations around masculinity, and his experience of isolation in twentieth-century Britain. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2b481a1bb6294afda93787862cbd3c35 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2058-5462 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Yale University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | British Art Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-2b481a1bb6294afda93787862cbd3c352025-08-20T03:51:48ZengYale UniversityBritish Art Studies2058-54622023-11-012510.17658/issn.2058-5462/issue-25/enixonMasculinity and Isolation in the Self-Portraits of L.S. LowryElla Nixon0University of Cambridge The 2013 Tate Britain exhibition *Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life* argued that L.S. Lowry (Laurence Stephen Lowry) was primarily "a painter of the industrial city and its working class". I nuance this social-realist narrative by analysing Lowry's self-portraits with regard to understandings of masculinity, in particular the "Manchester Man" ideal. This article argues that, through his self-portraits, Lowry negotiated the contradiction between his ambition to paint and the pressure to earn a wage as the household breadwinner. These conflicting identities---understood by Lowry especially through the writings of French philosopher François de La Rochefoucauld---had repercussions for his physical and mental health, as portrayed in his self-portraits of the 1930s and later metaphorical self-portraits. Overall, I argue that his paintings provide emotionally complex perspectives on his inner life and self-fashioning as an artist, in light of shifting expectations around masculinity, and his experience of isolation in twentieth-century Britain. https://britishartstudies.ac.uk/issues/25/masculinity-and-isolation-in-the-self-portraits-of-lowry/ |
| spellingShingle | Ella Nixon Masculinity and Isolation in the Self-Portraits of L.S. Lowry British Art Studies |
| title | Masculinity and Isolation in the Self-Portraits of L.S. Lowry |
| title_full | Masculinity and Isolation in the Self-Portraits of L.S. Lowry |
| title_fullStr | Masculinity and Isolation in the Self-Portraits of L.S. Lowry |
| title_full_unstemmed | Masculinity and Isolation in the Self-Portraits of L.S. Lowry |
| title_short | Masculinity and Isolation in the Self-Portraits of L.S. Lowry |
| title_sort | masculinity and isolation in the self portraits of l s lowry |
| url | https://britishartstudies.ac.uk/issues/25/masculinity-and-isolation-in-the-self-portraits-of-lowry/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ellanixon masculinityandisolationintheselfportraitsoflslowry |