L.S. Lowry: The Battle of Life

In 2026 MK Gallery is planning a significant solo exhibition of the work of Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887 – 1976). 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of Lowry’s death, and 16 years since his last significant institutional temporary exhibition Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life at Tate Britain. Lowry was a British painter, best known for his industrial landscapes of northwest of England. He was born in Stretford, Greater Manchester and studied at the Municipal College of Art, Manchester, Salford School of Art and Manchester Academy of Fine Arts while working as a clerk and rent collector – a job he continued until his retirement in 1952. Lowry famously worked with just five colours of undiluted oil paint: ivory black, vermillion, Prussian blue, yellow ochre and flake white. Around 1915 his tutor Bernard Taylor advised him his paintings were too dark and from then on he painted on a white g