Wigan Album

This is going to upset my new friend Philip and lots of others, but I wouldn't give it house-room, let alone pay a fortune for it. Good photo of Isherwood, though. Like me, everyone viewing this painting will see it differently, and everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. I am a Wigan pensioner and no oil-painting, but sincerely hope I don't look like that!

Well said Irene we are all entitled to our opinions! I will never forget the painting that was in the shoeshop window in Greenough St - there was cobwebs on it -it was there that long. I believe it was a portrait of his mother wearing a shawl. I have often wondered what happened to it. I was about 10 at the time and it was still there when I was about 18. He seemed to paint the elderly in a very grotesque way. Must say Lawrence looks quite young in that picture!

I remember mr Isherwood outside Wigan Market doing a painting. And had some for sale too around 1965

I was never a big fan of Isherwood though I have seen one or two of his works that appealed to me.

Vb - About thirty years' ago I was given two of his portraits: one of his mother wearing a shawl, and the other, if memory serves me right, entitled Prostitute/s. Both paintings had been done on hardboard but had also succumbed to damp conditions, becoming severely warped in the process. Against my suggestion, the owner showed no desire to have then 'taken in' to a professional restorer, but actually handed them to me saying " Take them, you can have them." - he had previously taken ownership of them in exchange for 'a side of beef', for heaven's sake! I returned home and eventually stacked them at the bottom of the wardrobe, never intending them to become part of my collection - it being the preserve of museum postcards and glossy illustrations of Old Master's. Their eventual sale was decided by Mother's initial response when having seen them for the first time: "Who are they, what you goin' do with 'em, eh I don't know?

I'd love to have known what his Brother Gordon thought of his work..

The paintings marked "Lily" on the back were his Mother Lily's and weren't for sale. He and his Mother always went to the "The Pictures" on Thursdays. He used to mark the reverse of each painting with a cross, as well as the price, in guineas. My friend Geoff, who was a friend of his, asked what the cross represented, and Isherwood said it meant "God help me". Geoff and Lawrence Isherwood fell out and never spoke for the last 15 years of Isherwood's life, but his nephew asked Geoff to write his obituary. He remembered a house with inches of dust and the smell of oil-paints and turpentine, and Lily, always "going on" at Jim, and generous with the measures of whisky. A fascinating man but I can't take to his paintings, likewise those of Theodore Major, who was also a friend of Geoff. However, another artist friend of Geoff's, Helen Bradley, produced paintings almost childlike in their simplicity, and yet I love them. Each to his/her own.

Philip after the post I sent I feel I must now eat my words!,,,,I looked on Google and discovered a beautiful painting of Amalfi in Italy by him I couldn't believe it was his. Also some of his pencil portraits were really good it just shows he was talented but churned out some outlandish stuff! I wonder if he was pleased with his paintings when completed! Perhaps the painting of his mother that you own was the one in the window -who knows. I read his life story and felt sorry for him in the end!

Vb - Thanks for your reply. Eat my words? There's no need for you to retract anything. You've quite simply discovered something else about the artist's true capabilities and been pleasantly surprised by what you found - a healthy response by you, in my opinion. Regards.

Last word on the subject Philip ...just read Kipling's poem L'Envoi and apply it to Lawrence ...."When Earth's last picture is painted and the tubes are twisted and dried.......". It would seem very appropriate for the old pretender who could paint like the great Impressionists of old when abroad!,,,

A few years ago My father in law ( A farmer)had a surprise visit from Isherwood. as forlorn worried man,who crashed his car through the hedge into a field with his mother and some paintings inside, and was offered a painting for helping him My father in law had no idea who he was

It's Buyer Beware when buying Isherwood paintings from off ebay as there's a lot of fakes around, nowadays genuine ones would most certainly only be offered from reputable salerooms.

Irene, my Dad had a book of Helen Bradleys paintings. I loved looking at them, remember.... Miss Carter, who always wore pink.....

Yes, and Helen told my friend Geoff that she was really called Miss Cowper, but he wasn't to tell anyone until after Helen was gone! Apparently Miss Cowper is buried in Lees Cemetery, near Oldham.