Albert Square Manchester

Drawn in 2012, this charcoal piece titled 'Albert Square After Adolphe Valette' is a based on the 1910 painting, ‘Albert Square’ by the French artist Adolphe Valette. A contemporary of Lowry, Valette painted a smog-filled Albert Square Manchester during the industrial era. I have tried to recreate the scene as it is experienced in the present day, and found the exact spot where Valette would have stood to draw this piece. The cellar man pushing a hand cart has been replaced by a contemporary road sweeper, and in the background a modern day taxi takes the place of the hansom cab. In Valette’s painting you can just make out the surrounding buildings through the smog. The modern skyline has changed, but the Albert Memorial and statue of Gladstone remain the same. Albert Square After Adolphe Valette is part of my Manchester Art Prints collection.