Intimate photographs of LS Lowry at his home in Mottram-in-Longdendale in 1966 are to go on display at The Lowry for the first time – more than 50 years after they were commissioned by Nova magazine.
The shots were taken by a young Clive Arrowsmith – who went on to achieve international renown as a fashion and portrait photographer.
Nova only ever published a small selection of the shots – and the remaining images were stored in the Arrowsmith archive, where they remained until they were uncovered his daughter, Eugenie, who was cataloguing her father’s work.
The photographs will now form part of a major exhibition at The Lowry, Lowry at Home: Salford 1966 – Unseen photographs by Clive Arrowsmith, which will run from 10 June – 24 September 2017.
The photographs also show Lowry on the streets of Salford – the setting for many of his iconic industrial scenes.
Claire Stewart, curator of the LS Lowry collection at The Lowry, said: “Lowry was an incredibly private man, which make Clive’s images all the more special. They show the very sparse nature of his home life, from where he painted some of his most famous work. Needless to say, we were very excited to receive Eugenie’s call and are delighted to be sharing them with the world for the very first time.”
Clive Arrowsmith’s photographs have been accepted into the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, as is his book, Arrowsmith: Fashion, Beauty and Portraits, that has also recently been added to the collection of Art books at the V&A, London.
Clive said, “The Lowry shoot was such a graphic insight into Lowry’s hidden life. Having been a painter up until this time, it was this project that changed my mind to photography.”
Arrowsmith is a Fellow of The Royal Photographic Society and his second book accompanies the exhibition at The Lowry and will be available on general sale.
