Britain At Play
Britain At Play
Signed Print
L S Lowry
£4,050-£6,000Value Indicator
$8,500-$12,500 Value Indicator
$7,500-$11,000 Value Indicator
¥40,000-¥60,000 Value Indicator
€4,650-€7,000 Value Indicator
$45,000-$60,000 Value Indicator
¥810,000-¥1,190,000 Value Indicator
$5,500-$8,000 Value Indicator
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45 x 60cm, Edition of 850, Lithograph
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Meaning & Analysis
Painted when Britain was at war, Britain At Play is a typical scene by L. S. Lowry from 1943, showing crowds of people on their day off at Angel Fields park in Manchester. In the foreground are some terraced houses depicted in yellow ochre and outlined in black, with Lowry’s ‘matchstick-men’ wandering along the street. As the composition moves backwards, we see hundreds of figures in the park space and the scene fades out onto the industrial landscape behind.
Though claiming to depict a real place through the language of stylised realism, Lowry’s Britain At Play is a composite image created from memory.The top of the composition shows Lowry’s famed depictions of the industrial smokestacks and factories. Notably, there seems to be no distinction between the natural and the industrial as we see the smoke from the mills fade into the sky and clouds. Lowry’s figures therefore become naturalised within the industrial environment.
Teeming with tiny figures across the entire canvas, this vibrant print is a classic example of Lowry depicting city crowds on holiday. Much like many of his urban landscapes, Britain At Play is a celebration of the northern industrial working class experience.
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.
