Major new art exhibition of Valette, Lowry’s art teacher
Adolphe Valette: A Pioneer of Impressionism in Manchester
Sat 15 October 2011 - Sun 29 January 2012
A major new exhibition at The Lowry this Autumn of artwork by Valette (1876 – 1942), who also taught Lowry, will include over 50 loans from public and private collectors from around the country and overseas, with a number of works which have not been previously been on public display.
Curated by Cécilia Lyon, author of the definitive biography of Valette, with Claire Stewart, Curator of the LS Lowry Collection, this chronological survey of Valette’s work provides the first major overview of his work in 17 years.
A multi-talented artist and a fascinating player in the panorama of early 20th century British and French painting, Valette brought from France his enthusiasm for and knowledge of Monet and Degas, and was amongst the first to bring Impressionism to Manchester. His fascinating paintings of urban and industrial landscapes record the city in all its mystery and beauty. Valette’s canvases are dynamic and powerful, with fog and pollution shrouding buildings, squares, and waterways, with hardly discernable figures hurrying across them, and with light sparkling through the gloom. Less well known are his light-filled, beautifully coloured landscapes and domestic scenes painted in France, many on show here for the first time.
LS Lowry and Valette arrived the same year (1905) at the Manchester School of Art. Valette’s talent very quickly won over his teachers and he was himself offered a teaching post. LS Lowry found himself in Valette’s life classes and became his student for ten years, commenting: “I cannot over-estimate the effect on me… of the coming into this drab city of Adolphe Valette, full of French Impressionists, aware of everything that was going on in Paris. He had a freshness… that was a very wonderful thing… I had not seen drawings like these before.”
The themes that made both Lowry and Valette famous are their portrayals of the urban and industrial landscapes of the North of England, painted in shades of smoky greyness like the factories, trapped by mist and fog. They were the first artists to place Manchester and Salford ‘centre stage’. Manchester was raised to the level where the city itself was in the spotlight of their paintings.
The exhibition explores the relationship between these two artists, showing selected early works and life drawings by LS Lowry. Valette’s work is celebrated alongside Lowry’s, with a full range of his art, comprising oil paintings, drawings, watercolours and prints.
The Lowry is welcoming loans of Valette’s work from various galleries including Manchester Art Gallery, Salford Museum and Art Gallery and Stockport Art Gallery. A painting by Valette of his mother is on loan from the Musée d’ Art Moderne in Saint-Etienne, France. Private collectors are also lending Valette paintings to The Lowry including The Duke of Devonshire from his collection at the Chatsworth Estate in Derbyshire.
The life story of Adolphe Valette, with a foot in two countries - England and France, is one of exemplary modernity. It is anticipated that this exhibition will bring new research and understanding to Valette’s relationship with Lowry.
The Lowry’s Valette exhibition opens at the same time as The Manchester Weekender, a weekend-long snapshot of some of the best of Manchester’s art and culture. From 14-16 October 2011, it spotlights the city’s myriad festivals, programmes unusual events in Manchester’s most historic buildings and presents new work by world-renowned artists, musicians and writers. In between, it stages guided tours of secret spaces and underground culture, works with award-winning chefs and hosts late-night music and performances inside the city’s normally-shuttered museums and galleries. And it does this for one weekend only – forty-eight hours of some of the most unusual cultural experiences found anywhere within the UK.
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Media enquiries:
Michelle Bowey, Head of Media Relations, The Lowry Tel: 0161 876 2037 or email: michelle@thelowry.com
Pictures:
For high resolution images, please go to The Lowry’s image library www.thelowryimages.com – access details below
To date, images available for press use for the purposes of illustrating this exhibition are:
Valette Images:
- Standing Nude (Louise Gunnery) – Private collection
- Tugboat on Manchester Ship Canal - Private collection
- Manchester Ship Canal, 18 March 1908 - Private collection
- Manchester Ship Canal – Nicholas & Anthony Goeritz Collection
- Manchester Street in Fog – Private collection
- Minshull Street with Old Magistrate’s Court in the Distance – Nicholas & Anthony Goeritz Collection
LS Lowry images
- Head from the Antique
- Girl with Bouffant hair Style
- Self Portrait
- The Lodging House
New users need to register by clicking on ‘register’ on the left hand side of the page, fill in the required information (which includes creating your own password) and click ‘create account’. You will then have access to images via the log-in page/Galleries/Current & future exhibitions/Valette.
Notes to Editors:
Gallery Information
The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays M50 3AZ
Information & Box Office Telephone 0843 2086005
www.thelowry.com
Gallery Opening Times:
Galleries open everyday 11am – 5pm (10am – 5pm on Saturdays)
Admission to the Galleries is FREE. On arrival, visitors need an admission ticket from the Galleries Desk.
The Lowry celebrated its 10th anniversary on 28 April 2010 and has spent 10
years delighting, engaging and challenging both local and national audiences with the very best in visual art and performance. The Lowry Centre Trust is a not-for-profit charitable organisation and registered charity (no. 1053962). All income supports our world-class Theatres and Galleries programme, the care and display of the LS Lowry Collection and our life-changing Community and Education work. The Lowry’s Chief Executive, Julia Fawcett (www.thelowry.com/juliafawcett) was awarded an OBE for services to the Arts in the Queen’s 2010 New Year Honours list