Percy Warburton and L.S. Lowry

This is the last of my Posts based on information sent to me by Lynn Clarke on various characters from the Ashley and Morley clan. It concerns Percy Warburton (1895-1969).

Percy is significant for 2 reasons. Firstly he won the Military Cross in WW1, and also spent time as a POW. Secondly as a teacher of art he had L.S. Lowry as a student, and formed a life long friendship with him.

Military Cross

Lynn provided the following cutting announcing the award.

I haven’t found further details of the action in which Percy received the Military Cross, and in which it seems he was captured and spent the rest of the war as a POW. I did find a record on FindMyPast which gave his date of capture as May 3rd 1917.

Percy’s father John wrote a letter to the Guardian the following September.

Wilst a prisoner Percy made a book case that was exhibited at the Lancashire at War 1914 1918 Exhibition.

Lytham Heritage Group Press Release 3 November 2009:

The Mayor of Fylde Councillor Paul Rigby and the Mayoress, Margaret Rigby attended Lytham Heritage Centre at Henry St, Lytham, to review the very popular “Lancashire at War 1914-1918” exhibition. 

Various artefacts were loaned by the Queens Lancashire Regiment Museum, Fulwood Barracks and local contributors. The exhibits included a hand carved bookcase made by Second Lt Percy Warburton whilst in a PoW camp. After the war he became an art teacher in Salford and taught Lowry. 

L. S. Lowry

When Percy returned from the war he returned to his job at the Salford School of Art where L. S. Lowry was one of his evening class students. In 1925 Percy married Miriam Fletcher and in 1938 they had a daughter Ethelwyn. The 1939 Register would indicate she was one of two children.

The story of Percy’s friendship with L. S. Lowry begins with Lynn Clarke’s account of a telephone conversation with Percy’s daughter Ethelwyn, and is followed by several other stories.

Lynn’s Account

Ethelwyn Warburton (daughter of Percy) (1938–2020).

I had a telephone conversation with Ethelwyn back in 2012 in which she gave me her personal account of the story below. She had had regrets over selling the watercolour some considerable number of years earlier, confounded by the fact that the painting had recently sold (in 2010) for a very much larger sum of money.

She recalled that her father Percy and Lowry were very good friends and met up regularly in Manchester, at the Library where it was always warm.  Percy had been rushing to one such meeting on 4 Dec 1969, and sadly upon arrival, collapsed from a heart attack and died at Lowry’s feet.

The schoolgirl’s verdict on L. S. Lowry’s painting career was withering. “You can’t be very famous,” the girl told one of Britain’s best-known artists of the 20th century. “No one at school has ever heard of you.”
Ethelwyn Warburton’s gibe prompted Lowry to ask to borrow her paintbox, which he used to create, in about 5 minutes, what may have been his first watercolour. A Group of Five Figures, painted in 1952, is now being offered for £65,000 (2010).

The sale catalogue can be viewed in the Master Drawings 2010 by ArtSolution – Issuu – on pages 96–97.

Paper Napkin

This unseen Lowry sketch drawn on a paper napkin could fetch £10,000 at auction – Wales Online

Paper napkin sells at auction for £9,000 5 May 2016

A rare sketch by L.S. Lowry on a paper NAPKIN has sold at auction for £9,000.

The artist is famous for his paintings and sketches of life and landscapes in the industrial north.

But the six inch-square doodle, dated November 6, 1961, captures men playing handball in Caerphilly, south Wales. Lowry is believed to have initially sketched out the scene in crayon as he watched from a nearby cafe in the village of Nelson.

The now fading napkin shows the ‘Old Handball Court, Nelson, Glamorgan’, which is now a listed building.

Its auctioneers said the drawing was given as a gift to the vendor’s father by the artist Percy Warburton, who was at Bury Art College with Lowry. Warburton, from Holcombe Brook, was head of Bury School of Art and a close friend of the artist.

Aged 77, Lowry embarked on a new era of painting inspired by the Welsh scenery.

A Girl Seated

• What’s it called:   L.S. Lowry – A Girl Seated. 
• What year was it:   It is signed on the bottom right by Lowry 1920. Inscribed ‘To P. Warburton from L. S. Lowry’ on the top right. Inscribed 2hrs on the bottom left. 
• What type is it:   Pencil on card. 
• Where is it:   Bolton Museum and Art Gallery. 
• More information:   P Warburton was one of Lowry’s lecturers at Salford School of Art and most likely was created there. Lowry and Warburton remained good friends up until Warburton’s death.

Artwork LS Lowry gave to his art teacher goes on public display for first time – link.

The family of Percy Warburton have agreed to loan the work – a pencil drawing entitled ‘The Railway Steps’, ‘Ramsbottom 1945’ and a watercolour known simply as ‘Figure Study with Dogs’ – to the Salford arts venue for one year. Percy taught the then 28-year old Lowry at evening classes from 1919 and kept in touch with his famous pupil throughout his life. Lowry would often stay with him and the pair would go out sketching together. On his death in 1971, his son inherited the work and the family has now decided the time has come to share their prized possession with fellow admirers of Lowry’s work. Claire Stewart, curator of The Lowry Collection at The Lowry, said: “We were very excited to hear from the family. Lowry worked hard to perfect his craft and he had a great respect for his teachers. Percy Warburton especially became a close personal friend of the artist over the years.

“Lowry did sometimes give work to friends– so it’s not unknown for pictures like these to come to light. We’re delighted to add them to our permanent display for the first time and are very grateful to the family for sharing their piece of Lowry history with us.” A spokesperson for the family of Percy Warburton said: “Percy was very proud of Lowry’s success – and it was a real treat to have a piece of his work to share with friends and family at his home. The family is very happy the artwork will now be seen by Lowry fans from around the country.” 

A Figure Study with Dogs – link

Desccription – Figure Study with Dogs signed and dated indistinctly 195-gouache on paper17.5 by 12.5cm.; 7 by 5in.

Provenance – Gifted by the Artist to Percy Warburton, and thence by descent to the present owner.

Two Ladies – link

Description – Two Ladies signed and dated 1964 pencil 34 by 25cm.; 13½ by 9¾in.

Provenance – Acquired directly from the artist by Percy Warburton, the artist’s tutor at the Salford School of Art, and thence by descent to the present owner.

FYLDE DECORATIVE AND FINE ARTS SOCIETY MEMBER OF NADFAS Newsletter 2 June 2010

Tea with Lowryʼs friends

One sunny April afternoon I was invited to tea with Ethelwyn Taylor and her friends Elizabeth Arrowsmith and Stanley Warburton.

(RW Note: Stanley (1919-2012) was not related to Ethelwyn. He is in the Walmersley and Bolton clan, and was an established artist in his own right. link)

It was a marvellous opportunity to listen to Ethelwyn and Stanley reminisce about their friendship with a legendary figure in the international art world, L S Lowry, and to pore over the books, letters and news cuttings that Ethelwyn has amassed over years.

In 1919 Ethelwyn’s father, Percy Warburton MC, came home from the war and returned to the Salford School of Art where Lowry became one of his evening class students. The young artist had already studied at the Manchester School of Art with Adolphe Valette, but it was in Salford where he became interested in the surrounding urban and industrial landscapes. The Warburton family and the painter became close friends and would spend weekends together, often sketching and painting.

Ethelwyn recalled Lowry borrowing her paintbox to paint a small watercolour commissioned by the Art Gallery in York. He also painted one specially for her. Lowry travelled all over the country drawing and painting but he and Ethelwyn’s father remained close companions for many years. However in 1969 they met for lunch and in the company of his old friend he had a heart attack and died. Mr Lowry sent her a warm and personal letter of condolence of which she is very proud. .

On 10 November Fylde DFAS will be arranging a Special Interest Day for members entitled “L S Lowry – A Visionary Artist” led by Michael Howard, curator and author of a much acclaimed book about the painter, and we are hoping that Mrs Taylor will share her special collection of memorabilia with participants. Hilary Alcock

A Brief History of the Bury School of Art

Bury Art Society was founded in 1949. Mr Walter Fletcher, the local M.P., accepted the position of first President. Meetings were held in a variety of venues until 1952, when, at the invitation of Mr Percy Warburton, Head of Bury School of Art, a room was acquired at the Arts & Crafts Centre, Broad Street, Bury.

Through friendship with Mr Warburton, Mr L. S. Lowry, the famous Salford Artist, became actively involved with the Society and became its second President. Many notable local artists were members, including the Swithenbank family, Mr. John Bold, Miss Elizabeth Hesp, Mr Tom Worsley, Mr Jack Lewis, Mr Tommy Valentine (Freeman of the City of London) and Mr Stanley Warburton** (Chairman of the Turner Society). Some of these early members are still with us today, namely David Swithenbank, President of the Society, and Stanley Warburton, Vice-President.