Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887-1976)

The Floating Bridge

After his mother's death in 1939 Lowry preferred not to spend time in the family home and travelled widely. He was also growing tired of industrial scenes and looked for new subjects. Lowry first visited Southampton in 1954 staying with Friends at Bitterne and taking the chain ferry or floating bridge across the Itchen.

On a second visit he sketched the ferry from Woolston with the city in the background. That evening Lowry made a finished drawing of the scene without referring to his sketch. From memory he then created two paintings of the floating bridge, this one and another which shows the crowd of passengers spilling out. The floating bridge ceased operation in 1977.

← Back to the Collection