L S Lowry and Reverend Geoffrey Bennett

Today we were honoured to be visited by the great niece of the late Geoffrey Bennett, a long standing friend of L S Lowry and owner of over 100 Lowry works in his lifetime, including this wonderful drawing currently in the gallery.  Having travelled across the UK to view the drawing once owned by her great Uncle, it was a pleasure to discuss the Reverend’s long standing relationship with Mr Lowry and learn about the ‘mischief’ that they got up to.

The friendship between L. S. Lowry and the Reverend Geoffrey Bennett was one of the longest and most significant personal relationships of Lowry’s life. The two men first met in Manchester in 1926 through Lowry’s cousin, Grace Shephard, who worked with Bennett at the London and County Westminster Bank. Although their lives followed very different paths, they developed a close friendship based on a shared background, mutual understanding and a common interest in art.

Bennett was himself an enthusiastic artist and collector, and Lowry greatly valued his friendship and opinions. When Bennett moved to West Cumbria as a bank manager, Lowry began making regular visits to him and his family in Cleator Moor, and later in Maryport. These visits had a lasting influence on Lowry’s work, introducing him to the people, streets and landscapes of West Cumbria. He painted a number of local subjects, including the Westminster Bank, the market square and Cowles fish and chip shop, as well as scenes around Maryport. The two men would also sketch and make caricatures together for Bennett’s family.

After Bennett was ordained as an Anglican clergyman in 1962, Lowry affectionately referred to him as “The Reverend Gentleman”, reflecting the slightly formal but warm nature of their relationship. Bennett described their friendship as an unusual affinity — a sympathy and understanding between two people who, despite their differences, instinctively understood one another. Bennett eventually assembled an important collection of Lowry’s work, and when Lowry died in 1976, it was Bennett who conducted the funeral service. Lowry also left Bennett his treasured Tompion grandfather clock. Their friendship had lasted for roughly half a century and provides a fascinating glimpse of the private side of an artist who was often regarded as an intensely solitary figure.

The drawing above formed part of Reverend Bennett’s outstanding collection and dates from the 1960s when Lowry’s work was much more focused on the figures in his paintings rather than the changing industrial landscapes that had brought him acclaim in his early years.  Slightly hunched and progressing across the paper, the drawing demonstrates Lowry’s wonderful ability to portray movement and character in his otherwise rather minimal figures.  As well as being signed and dated, the drawing is also fascinatingly executed on the reverse of a pub/hotel listing from the time, detailing many hosteleries in the North East and likely reflects where the piece was originally conceived.

Contact the gallery now for further details on this wonderful original drawing.