Alan Lowndes (1921-1978) grew up in Stockport and was a self-taught artist. His first one-man show was held at Crane Kalman in 1950. Public collections that hold his work include the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, the City Art Gallery, Manchester and Plymouth Art Gallery. Like Lowry, Lowndes was a painter of the working classes. Though mainly a painter of scenes of northern working-class life he also travelled to and spent time in St Ives, befriending many of the St Ives School Artists including Sir Terry Frost. A major retrospective of his work was held at Stockport Art Gallery in 2010 and later moving to Crane Kalman.