[57382] Manchester Art Gallery : Albert Square, Manchester
Manchester Art Gallery.
Albert Square, Manchester.
By Adolphe Valette (1876-1942).
Oil on jute, 1910.
An atmospheric, smog-filled view of Albert Square, Manchester, seen from the southwest side. In the foreground is the dark figure of a man, wearing a cloth cap and knee-length coat, pushing a handcart, his figure silhouetted against the wet cobbles. Overhead is a grid of cables. On the far side of the street, to the right of the scene, is parked a hansom cab beneath the statue of Gladstone - the horse feeds from a nose-bag as the driver also rests; behind the statue looms the hazy silhouette of part of the Town Hall. To the left of the scene, a group of figures congregate around a motorcar parked beneath the Albert Memorial and the statue of Oliver Heywood to the right. Beyond are the forms of figures making their way across the square, illuminated with street lights, seen against a further background of the extremely hazy surrounding buildings.
This view of Albert Square outside Manchester Town Hall is viewed from the south-west side. The statues are from left to right: the Albert Memorial, Oliver Heywood and William Gladstone. At the time the Town Hall was entirely covered in a velvet coat of soot. Valette has captured a moment in history as a horse-drawn carriage shares the square with a motor car – a new and very modern appearance at the time and a strangely rare occurrence in early twentieth century art. The cellar man pushing his barrow loaded with cases of wine is sometimes believed to be a character who worked for Willoughby’s wine merchants. The dark silhouette of the figure and his rounded working boots became trademark features of Valette’s pupil, Lowry.
Adolphe Valette was born in 1876 in the industrial town of St Etienne, and came to England in 1904. He settled in Manchester and studied at the Manchester School of Art and taught there from 1906 to 1920. Amongst his students was LS Lowry.
When Valette was an art student in France, the Impressionist movement was at its height. By the end of the 19th century art galleries and collectors all over Europe were buying paintings by Monet, Renoir and others. When Valette arrived in Manchester he brought first hand knowledge of Impressionist painting with him which he was able to share with his students, including LS Lowry. ‘Forain, Monet, Degas and the French Impressionists were his gods’, as one of his students put it.
It was between 1908 and 1913 that he completed his major Impressionist Manchester cityscapes. In 1908 he produced his first Manchester painting depicting Manchester Ship Canal. He fully understood the Impressionist practice of painting en plein air, capturing an immediate visual impression of a scene and rendering the exact effect of light.
Soon after his arrival in Manchester, Valette enrolled as a student in the evening classes at the Municipal School
of Art at All Saints, now part of Manchester Metropolitan University. His talent was quickly recognised and he was encouraged to apply for the position of Master of Painting and Drawing. He accepted this post ‘on the condition that he should teach the pupils by actually painting with them.
In 1928 Valette left Manchester, due to ill health and following the death of his mother. He moved permanently to Blace in the Beaujolais region of France, settling in a cottage which he inherited from his mother and where he had spent many holidays.
[57382] Manchester Art Gallery : Albert Square, Manchester
Manchester Art Gallery.
Albert Square, Manchester.
By Adolphe Valette (1876-1942).
Oil on jute, 1910.
An atmospheric, smog-filled view of Albert Square, Manchester, seen from the southwest side. In the foreground is the dark figure of a man, wearing a cloth cap and knee-length coat, pushing a handcart, his figure silhouetted against the wet cobbles. Overhead is a grid of cables. On the far side of the street, to the right of the scene, is parked a hansom cab beneath the statue of Gladstone - the horse feeds from a nose-bag as the driver also rests; behind the statue looms the hazy silhouette of part of the Town Hall. To the left of the scene, a group of figures congregate around a motorcar parked beneath the Albert Memorial and the statue of Oliver Heywood to the right. Beyond are the forms of figures making their way across the square, illuminated with street lights, seen against a further background of the extremely hazy surrounding buildings.
This view of Albert Square outside Manchester Town Hall is viewed from the south-west side. The statues are from left to right: the Albert Memorial, Oliver Heywood and William Gladstone. At the time the Town Hall was entirely covered in a velvet coat of soot. Valette has captured a moment in history as a horse-drawn carriage shares the square with a motor car – a new and very modern appearance at the time and a strangely rare occurrence in early twentieth century art. The cellar man pushing his barrow loaded with cases of wine is sometimes believed to be a character who worked for Willoughby’s wine merchants. The dark silhouette of the figure and his rounded working boots became trademark features of Valette’s pupil, Lowry.
Adolphe Valette was born in 1876 in the industrial town of St Etienne, and came to England in 1904. He settled in Manchester and studied at the Manchester School of Art and taught there from 1906 to 1920. Amongst his students was LS Lowry.
When Valette was an art student in France, the Impressionist movement was at its height. By the end of the 19th century art galleries and collectors all over Europe were buying paintings by Monet, Renoir and others. When Valette arrived in Manchester he brought first hand knowledge of Impressionist painting with him which he was able to share with his students, including LS Lowry. ‘Forain, Monet, Degas and the French Impressionists were his gods’, as one of his students put it.
It was between 1908 and 1913 that he completed his major Impressionist Manchester cityscapes. In 1908 he produced his first Manchester painting depicting Manchester Ship Canal. He fully understood the Impressionist practice of painting en plein air, capturing an immediate visual impression of a scene and rendering the exact effect of light.
Soon after his arrival in Manchester, Valette enrolled as a student in the evening classes at the Municipal School
of Art at All Saints, now part of Manchester Metropolitan University. His talent was quickly recognised and he was encouraged to apply for the position of Master of Painting and Drawing. He accepted this post ‘on the condition that he should teach the pupils by actually painting with them.
In 1928 Valette left Manchester, due to ill health and following the death of his mother. He moved permanently to Blace in the Beaujolais region of France, settling in a cottage which he inherited from his mother and where he had spent many holidays.