LOWNDES, ALAN

Alan Lowndes was known mainly for his oil paintings of the industrial north of England using bright palettes. The fifth child of railway clerk, he was born in Stockport, Cheshire, left school at 14 and became apprenticed to a decorator.

After several years in the army in World War II serving in the Middle East, Italy and Austria, Lowndes studied painting in the evenings at Stockport College, he then started painting full-time in the late-1940's but otherwise remained self-taught.

He was taken up by The Crane Kalman Gallery in Manchester, where he had a number of one man shows, later showing at Crane Kalman, London. He also showed solo at the Osborn Gallery in New York, Curlew Gallery, Southport and had retrospectives at The Stockport Art Gallery and tour in 1972 and at Crane Kalman in 1995.

From the early-1950's Lowndes began to work in St Ives, Cornwall, settling in the area for just over a decade in 1959. He later settled in Dursley, Gloucestershire, but periodically returned to Stockport to work.

John Willett’s book Alan Lowndes: Paintings 1948-1972 is a must read for anyone looking to collect Lowndes paintings.