The Tamesis
Ian McKellan has signed on to star in a new BBC documentary about cult artist LS Lowry, focusing on the never-before-heard recordings Lowry made during the last four years of his life.
It is reported guardian“Fifteen years ago, Sir Ian McKellen was one of the leading figures in the art world who criticized the Tate for not showing its collection of LS Lowry paintings in its London gallery, questioning whether the ‘stickman painter’ had been marginalized for being too northern and provincial.” Now, the legendary British actor will embody Lowry’s own voice as it is captured on tape, containing what is claimed to be the longest interview ever with the artist.
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“The tapes reveal deep insights into the artist’s mind – his ambitions, regrets and humor,” McKellen said. “Anyone who admires his paintings as I do will be intrigued and delighted by the artist’s resurrection through his own words.”
In an article last spring about the rising market for Lowry’s work, Art Network News wrote: “L.S. Lowry is best known for drab industrial cityscapes populated by a swarm of nameless darting figures. He stuck to this unique formula so faithfully that you could spot Lowry from a mile away. Drab as his paintings may be, they remain beloved, often making headlines because another work has sold for an eye-popping price.”
The tapes made by Lowry, who died in 1976 at the age of 88, “provide personal insights as he reflects on his life and discusses the experiences that shaped him from childhood onwards”. guardian. In the upcoming movie, which will be titled LS Lowry: The Unheard TapesMcKellen will lip-sync reminiscences while playing an artist he has long admired.
“It is a blessing that these compelling recordings of interviews have survived and been used in this way,” said Richard Grossick, a representative of the Lowry estate. Of MacLean, he said, “It is difficult to imagine another actor who better embodied the rhythmic charm of Mr. Lowry’s distinctive Lancastrian intonation.”
