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拍品专文
In all of Lowry’s portraiture, the sitter is rarely identified. They are often formed from an amalgamation of the various personalities he encountered in the street, or a fantasy construct in response to his frame of mind at the time of execution. Of all his subjects within this genre, ‘Ann’ is undoubtedly the most mysterious, and her presence is central to some of the most personal works the artist ever created.
Her anonymity remains uncompromised to this day. When Shelly Rohde was in the process of compiling her biography on the artist, she sought the experiences of his surviving friends to gain an insight into Lowry’s private life. No records of them meeting this enigmatic person could be recalled, but some reported hearing accounts of her through Lowry in various conversations. ‘’Ann’ was quite well-off, even rich; she was a first class tennis player; she drove a Rolls Royce two-seater; she spent a lot of time in Italy; she was a trained ballerina and, having been offered the casting-couch route to the top, she rejected it and gave up dancing; she worked with the poor in Naples. Sometimes she was Ann Hilder; sometimes she had a different surname or none at all. She did not get on well with her parents. She often sat for Lowry who promised to bequeath all of his many portraits of this enigmatic creature to her on his death’ (T.G. Rosenthal, L.S. Lowry: The Art and the Artist, London, 2012, p. 261). Yet after Lowry’s death, no trace of her was to be found. Her existence only persists in Lowry’s numerous depictions of her.
It is now understood that Ann was not a real-life person, rather a figment of the artist’s imagination, a vision of his ideal women. Parallels can be drawn between this concept and countless other artists throughout the art historical canon, but it is perhaps the relationship between his own art and that of Pre-Raphaelite artist, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, that is most relevant to this particular series. Although a stark contrast to the northern scenes most often associated with Lowry, the idealised portraits that populate Rossetti’s oeuvre are derived from a similar concept to Lowry’s portraits of Ann. ‘As Lowry himself intuited, Rossetti’s beauties were at least partially his sexual fantasies. So why should not Lowry have had the pleasure of a fantasy woman who meant so much to him and his art, who represented for him an unattainable but perfect reality’ (T.G. Rosenthal, ibid, p. 274).
Classical in composition yet intensely modern in execution, Portrait of Ann, with plait and black jumper is a half-length portrait of the young girl in profile, with her hair neatly pulled back in a long plait. Her face is highly stylised, presenting the characteristically large eyes that gaze endlessly into the space before her. Her head and body are elongated, and the jaw is full and heavy - defining features of her likeness. Like Rossetti, Lowry brings his subject close to the picture plane, yet despite the sitter’s proximity, she seems entirely unaware of the artist’s presence.
Her anonymity remains uncompromised to this day. When Shelly Rohde was in the process of compiling her biography on the artist, she sought the experiences of his surviving friends to gain an insight into Lowry’s private life. No records of them meeting this enigmatic person could be recalled, but some reported hearing accounts of her through Lowry in various conversations. ‘’Ann’ was quite well-off, even rich; she was a first class tennis player; she drove a Rolls Royce two-seater; she spent a lot of time in Italy; she was a trained ballerina and, having been offered the casting-couch route to the top, she rejected it and gave up dancing; she worked with the poor in Naples. Sometimes she was Ann Hilder; sometimes she had a different surname or none at all. She did not get on well with her parents. She often sat for Lowry who promised to bequeath all of his many portraits of this enigmatic creature to her on his death’ (T.G. Rosenthal, L.S. Lowry: The Art and the Artist, London, 2012, p. 261). Yet after Lowry’s death, no trace of her was to be found. Her existence only persists in Lowry’s numerous depictions of her.
It is now understood that Ann was not a real-life person, rather a figment of the artist’s imagination, a vision of his ideal women. Parallels can be drawn between this concept and countless other artists throughout the art historical canon, but it is perhaps the relationship between his own art and that of Pre-Raphaelite artist, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, that is most relevant to this particular series. Although a stark contrast to the northern scenes most often associated with Lowry, the idealised portraits that populate Rossetti’s oeuvre are derived from a similar concept to Lowry’s portraits of Ann. ‘As Lowry himself intuited, Rossetti’s beauties were at least partially his sexual fantasies. So why should not Lowry have had the pleasure of a fantasy woman who meant so much to him and his art, who represented for him an unattainable but perfect reality’ (T.G. Rosenthal, ibid, p. 274).
Classical in composition yet intensely modern in execution, Portrait of Ann, with plait and black jumper is a half-length portrait of the young girl in profile, with her hair neatly pulled back in a long plait. Her face is highly stylised, presenting the characteristically large eyes that gaze endlessly into the space before her. Her head and body are elongated, and the jaw is full and heavy - defining features of her likeness. Like Rossetti, Lowry brings his subject close to the picture plane, yet despite the sitter’s proximity, she seems entirely unaware of the artist’s presence.