The Cripples

According to Lowry, ‘The thing about painting is there should be no sentiment. No sentiment.’ Several of the figures in The Cripples were well known characters around Manchester. When his friend David Carr doubted that Lowry could have seen so many of them, Lowry persuaded Carr to drive him from Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester to Rochdale. On this journey they supposedly counted 101 memorable figures. Another friend, Hugh Maitland, surprised Lowry by declaring he felt there was no compassion in these late paintings. Lowry replied ‘I was sorry for them, and at the same time realising that there was really no need to be sorry for them because they were quite in a world of their own.’