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James Lawrence Isherwood
As a friend of Lowry, James Lawrence Isherwood a member of the Royal Society of Arts was a well known artist and character of his hometown of Wigan. Although some of his paintings appear simple they are all painted with style and enthusiasm of a creative artist, he was both an impressionist and an expressionist. His paintings are a full diversity of characters and landscapes covering many subjects, many being of the folk life he grew up around.
Isherwood also achieved some critical recognition: in 1962 the Daily Herald found him "compassionate, gifted and dedicated" and in 1975 the Guardian called him "a great and uncompromising artist" .He was so prolific that he held more than 200 one-man shows in galleries across the country and also set up shop under Boadicea's statue on Westminster Bridge in London and in a layby on the East Lanc’s Road, a busy dual carriageway running betweel Liverpool & Manchester. The Prince of Wales owns one of his paintings, as did LS Lowry, and his paintings are admired and collected the world over. Born in 1917 he lived in Wigan with his mother “Lilly” most of his life. Lilly was Isherwood's inspiration and he painted her many times, often as a Lancashire Madonna. If she liked a picture, he would put an 'L' on the back and never sell it, she died on the 24th July 1971. Leaving for the Mediterranean in the 70’s painting in Malta and Spain, all but a few places he visited, he then returned to Wigan and continued to paint until his death in 1989. The collection on show here are all owned by us and we would like to invite you to appreciate some of the different aspects of his work, although none of the collection is for sale at the present moment we will however add and release paintings from time to time. Most of the collection has been bought direct from his family, although we have recently added one or two we have purchased from other local Gallery's all carry full provenance. We hope to increase our collection and as it grows we will add more paintings. We would like to find out different things about his life and works, please feel free to contact us with any information you may have about his life, did you know him? What was he like?.
